


Fight or Flight

by LunaStarSeeker



Series: FoF [1]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: ...thats a lot of tags, Angst, Cliffhangers, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Fae!Grian, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Inspired, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Panic Attacks, Pillow Fight, Possession, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sam is a jerk, There will be a sequel, Winged!Grian, again thats a lot of tags wow, author-chan's a pesky bird, bunny boy is here, farlands refrence, grian does protagonists mistakes but they actually make sense and have meaning, grian totally isn't poultry man, how do I lore, hurt!mumbo, hurt!xisuma, i forgot about cleo, i promise it's not edgy, i think joe is secretly bob ross, joe is a dad, minor blood warning (nothing too gory), my pen is clean but it writes with the tears of my readers, ok no more tags i promise, permadeath? maybe..., please dont take my kneecaps ive had to replace them six times already, poor grian, rip Doc, sam is also a stalker, therapist!joe, therapist!mumbo, this fic keeps me sane, void is a character, void is not the tall dude, void is the literal void, well my pen is a little bloodstanined ill admit, when did iskall become such a backround character?, wow these tags are negative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 52
Words: 39,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23897194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaStarSeeker/pseuds/LunaStarSeeker
Summary: Something strange begins to happen to Grian, and he leaves the Island for information. But of course, his fellow Hermits have to come rescue him. He spends some time recovering and thinks it's all in the past. But after accidentally poisoning Mumbo, Grian discoveres the story isn't quite over yet.Cross-posted on Wattpadhttps://www.wattpad.com/story/219020719-fight-or-flight
Relationships: grian/therapy (lol)
Series: FoF [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825201
Comments: 167
Kudos: 443





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Aversion to Iron](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23421727) by [moji964](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moji964/pseuds/moji964). 



August 2nd, 2018

Grian grinned as he glided towards his clearly unfinished base. "Oh! This is excellent." He was trying an Elytra for the first time, and tried to ignore how much he loved it. "I don't really want to be that person who flies everywhere just because it's super convenient." He reminded himself. "This Elytra is just going to be used for the purpose of tag."

He knew he was lying, the Elytra was super fun and he felt somewhat free. Now, he didn't need a boat to get to and fro from his base, as well as the fact that he could get out of sticky situations much more easily.

He didn't mind getting hurt as he attempted to land for the first time, and failing quite a bit. This, was awesome.


	2. Chapter 2

Grian yawned as he climbed out of bed. As always, the night passed in what felt like a few seconds but was really hours. He didn't bother equipping his armour or Elytra, since the first half of the day was booked with meetings and appointments with other Hermits, as well as the fact he had to check his store in the Shopping District.

Grain quickly checked his inventory and spent a good twenty minutes trying to find that one shulker box of golden carrots (he'd promised it to Iskall and Mumbo after losing a bet at the concorp golf - long story) in his storage mess. He really needed a system, but he knew he'd never get around to doing it.

He finally hopped through his nether portal and headed over to Impulse's base to help with an automatic potato farm (surprise! grian was supplying the initial potatoes) before a couple meetings with other hermits about minigames, build-offs, and other things. Finally, around noon, he headed to Sahara for the final meeting of the day.

__________________________

"Hey guys! Glad you all could make it!" Grian glanced pointedly at Mumbo, who'd actually showed up for once. "Anyways, I have some very important news!"

"You're not going to drop us into the infinity room again, are you?" Iskall joked.

Grian laughed. "No, that was a one time thing. As I was saying, I've got news! Joe's willing to advertise for us!"

"Really?" Mumbo asked.

"Yeah! Isn't that perfect? He is the poet of the server, after all." Grain tapped his fingers on the desk excitedly, just lightly enough that the block wouldn't break.

"That's great! Maybe we'll get more Sahara Now memberships." Iskall commented.

"Also, here's the Golden Carrots I promised." Grian placed the shulker box on the table. Iskall and Mumbo split the carrots, Iskall talking the Shulker box and Mumbo an extra stack of the vegetable.

"Well, with that, I believe the meeting is adjourned?" Mumbo asked.

Grian nodded. "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow, I have work to do, I need to check on- I mean, Poultry man needs to check on Sally, so I should remind him."

"Yeah sure." Iskall rolled his eyes as Mumbo broke the window.

Grian equipped his Elytra, and instantly noticed something was off as he flew out. It was so off, that Grian had to land on top of the Sahara Now building. Iskall had already flown the other direction, but Mumbo noticed and landed next to him. "You okay?"

"No, my Elytra doesn't fit for some reason."

"Maybe it's the straps?"

Grian nodded, noticing that the Elytra was at half durability. "Yeah that's probably it. I can get some EXP from the Nether to repair it, I need to restock my shop anyways."

"Alright, see you tomorrow." Mumbo nodded to Grian and handed him a couple ender pearls. "Just in case you get in a bad situation in the nether and your Elytra still doesn't work." He took off, rather clumsily but thats mumbo for you, and glided away.

Grian equipped his armour and jumped off the building, eating a couple potatoes to regain health as he jogged over to the Nether portal and hopped through, exiting the Nether hub and climbing up onto one of the many wide ledges, spotting a nine-vein of Nether quartz. He took a deep breath and readied himself for the grind ahead.

_____________________

Grian dropped off the quartz at his shop before slipping his Elytra back on and taking off with some rockets. It still didn't fit! It was at full durability and it still didn't fit!

He landed again and took the Elytra off and gave it a long stare. It was in perfect condition, nothing was wrong with the-

BAM

"Holy-" Grian shrieked, falling on his side. A creeper now? Really? He'd lost a couple hearts to that. Now that he noticed, the sun was beginning to set. He sighed and took out a boat, making his way to the shore, praying he'd make it back to his base before phantoms started spawning in mumbo's base and targeting him. It had happened before, and he didn't want it happening again.

A few minutes of paddling and he was at the big outer ring. he put his boat back in his inventory and ran inside, crashing on his bed. The quartz grind had taken much longer since he couldn't use his elytra. He also used up all his ender pearls after accidentally hitting a pigmen, breaking the second rule of minecraft. He lied there, letting the night pass in those few strange seconds.

Maybe tomorrow his Elytra would work.


	3. Chapter 3

"Really!?" Grian had just woken up and had immediately equipped his Elytra, but to no avail. It still didn't fit???

He did notice a small bulge on his back, so he took off the Elytra and pulled off his red jumper. He looked over his shoulders,

and nearly screamed.

__________________________

Grian stared at the orange cat still sitting on top of the G-team base. It had been a long time since the war had ended, but that cat was still there.

In Grian's hand was a couple small, purple feathers.

He had wings. They were tiny, sure, but they were wings. He hadn't tried flying with them, they were too small anyways. They did seem to be growing at a surprising rate. This morning, they were about the size of his palm, but now they were slightly bigger than his hand. It was late afternoon, and Grian was still taking it in.

He hadn't told anyone, and wasn't planning to anytime soon. Finally, he made his way off the roof. If his wings got any bigger, he'd have to cut slits in his jumper for them. Luckily, they fit neatly under a chestplate, but he couldn't use an Elytra anymore.

He made his way back to his base and for the first time, regretted not finishing the water elevators. He pillared his way up to his Aviary and greeted Ari and the other birds. Grian sat down, took off his shoes, and dangled his bare feet in the pond. FISHHHHHHHHH and IAMAFISH swam around his legs. He needed to rename those sometime. Eh, they were just Cod.

He spent the next two days AFK, just staring at the water. Mistake.

______________________

Grian jumped a little. Oops, musta went AFK on accident. He took his feet out of the water and did a quick bird count, hoping phantoms didn't spawn and kill any of them. "Heh, pesky birds." He muttered with a smile. They were all there. Grain reached for his Elytra... But it was downstairs. Oh.

His wings.

Grian glanced over his shoulder, noticing the large bump under his jumper. How big were they now?

He de-pillared back down to the bottom layer of his base, slipped off his jumper, and-

Holy crap.

They were huge!

He had large, magnificent, light purple wings that were just itching to take off.

Curiously, Grian tested the new muscles, the new sensation. He gasped a little as he flapped them for the first time. Then a flutter, which lifted him slightly off the ground.

And then, he took off, flying around the bottom layer, grinning. He landed after an hour of getting used to the wings, which were strangely easier to use than Elytra.

He then noticed his beacon. How long had it been green? Grian opened the chest to see the piece of paper.

I'm on my way over, skeletons took over my base. I hope u don't mind. - Mumbo

Shoot shoot shoot-

Grian hastily cut a couple slits in his jumper, and put it back on along with a chestplate, just as Mumbo walked through the entrance, with about six arrows in his back and arm.

Grian stifled a laugh. "Need a hand?"

_______________________

Thirty-eight skeleton murders later, Grian helped Mumbo light up his base again. Apparently, Mumbo had misplaced some water and it knocked out a lot of torches, causing the invasion. Mumbo had quickly sent the message before trying to get into the ocean and swim over before drowns got him.

"So, is your Elytra still not working?"

"Huh?"

"You're wearing a chestplate."

"Oh." Grian quickly thought of a lie. "I got it to work, I'm just taking a break from Elytra. I use it all the time, so I should leave it off for a while."

"Oh, okay." Mumbo nodded. 

Grian took out his boat and rowed back to his base. People were gonna notice, he just hoped his lie would work with the other hermits. Lucky for him, the other Hermits believed his tale.

But a few were feeling a bit suspicious, two being Iskall and Mumbo.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few weeks were strange.

Of course, after hearing that Grian was taking an Elytra break, Iskall was dumbfounded, but feigned belief. Grian? Not using Elytra? He was the founder of the only Elytra course, and still held the top score. He usually needed his elytra to build, and often flew more than walked. But now, Grian hadn't worn his Elytra for two weeks.

Along with that, Grian had stopped using his trident too. And when Iskall started noticing that, he noticed other minor details. Like how Grian's ears were slightly pointed, or how he often would avoid mining iron. Iskall put two and two together.

Grian was avoiding iron.

Iskall needed to test this, and so he headed over to Grian's base after sundown. When he poked his head inside, Grian was sleeping on his bed.

Perfect.

Iskall knew that once a Hermit was asleep, nothing could wake them until sunrise except breaking the bed itself.

So, Iskall pulled out his shears and placed them against Grian's hand. Sure enough, Grian's skin turned red and looked burnt. Iskall was prepared though, and gently placed Grian's hand onto an ice block to get rid of the rash. It quickly went away, and Iskall made his departure and headed towards Mumbo's.

_________________________________

Grian was pretty annoyed that he couldn't use his anvil. Shortly after his wings finished growing, Grian's skin began to burn whenever he touch iron. This was terrible. He needed to find out what was happening to him and why. He even noticed his ears were getting pointier. That could be somewhat hid with a helmet, but if you looked closely, you could tell.

He began researching, searching in everyone's enchanting rooms, but he couldn't find anything. He realized that only once place would have the information he needed.

The Woodland Mansion.

But finding it would take months, it was even rarer than finding an enchanted golden apple in a desert temple. But the illagers there knew about magic. It was his only chance. But finding one would mean leaving the island. For a long time. 

How would he tell the others? He loved his wings, yes, but they were not normal. If anything, they were a curse. What else could explain it? He still had to be sure.

So, he packed up a shulker box with some essentials, like another bed, crafting table, tools, and a bunch of food. He also grabbed a compass and a beacon. He'd send a farewell note to Mumbo, then leave. He'd go to Concorp golf, then fly from there.

______________________________________

"Grian? Grian?"

"Grian!?"

Mumbo ran around Grian's base, trying to locate the short builder. The note was still clutched in Mumbo's hand.

_I'm sorry Mumbo, but I have to leave. I may never come back. I wish I could tell you why, but I can't. I'm letting you know so no one thinks I was kidnapped or smth._

Mumbo had flown over as soon as he received the message. He sent Iskall a text. 

_Nether hub. Now._

Mumbo ran through Grian's portal, just to see Grian hop through the Concorp Golf one. Iskall stepped out of a nearby portal, and Mumbo grabbed his hand and jumped through the Concorp portal.

"Whoa what's going on?" Iskall frowned as they stepped out.

Mumbo handed Iskall the note while he looked around for Grian, who was nowhere in sight.

"So I was right?"

"Yes." Mumbo spotted Grian, who was running across the golf green. "Grian's not human."

"And he's not a mob either." Iskall readied his Elytra.

"And now he's running away." Mumbo did the same. The two players took off, following Grian, who'd found himself at a cliff. 

Mumbo and Iskall hid behind a couple trees and watched as Grian took off his chestplate.

On his back were two enormous, beautiful, light purple wings. Grian took a running start, and he flew. He was incredibly fast, and in moments he was out of sight

Mumbo shared a look with Iskall. 

_He may be running away, but he had a map in his off hand. Where's he going?_


	5. Chapter 5

Two months.

It had been two months since Grian had set off to search for the mansion, and he'd ran into the Far Lands.

The Far Lands was a wall of messed up stone and caves and canyons and lava and basically one of the most dangerous places in his world. It was warned that anyone to enter would perish.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna risk it." Grian muttered, backing away from the border. He took off into the air again, this time heading Southeast instead of North. He relished the feel of the air against his wings, and wished he could tell the others, but...

No. He needed to focus.

__________________________________

"I'm telling you, we should send a search party! It's the most logical solution!"

Iskall was pacing inside the Sahara meeting room. Mumbo and the other hermits were there. He still hadn't told them about his suspicions, but he desperately wanted to get out there and search.

Mumbo stood up from his chair. "Iskall, we need to figure out what he was looking for first."

"We aren't even sure if he was even looking for something!" Iskall paced faster, his mechanical eye flickering.

"The note said that he may never come back. Not that he won't ever come back." Stress pointed out. "If he was running away, wouldn't the note say he was going away for good?"

"Maybe he just needs some time? He's been really stressed lately, sorry about the pun Stress, and maybe he's just taking a break?" Impulse waved his hand in the air as he spoke.

Tango had taken off his gloves and had been sitting there in thought. "Maybe this has to do with his 'Elytra break'?"

Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"Tango's right." Mumbo nodded. "Before his 'break', Grian's Elytra wouldn't work. He claimed he got it to work but was taking a break. I don't think he'd do that, as much as he loves flying."

Joe nodded. "Seems the bird forgot how to fly."

"Well, whatever the case, we should figure out where he's going, and then send a few hermits out to try and find him." Cleo's voice was diplomatic and calm. "It seems that something was troubling him, and he left because of that."

"I caught him in my enchanting room looking through the bookcases," False offered, "Maybe he was trying to find information?"

"Hey, I also caught Grian in my enchanting room!" Scar interjected.

"Me too!" Xisuma nodded his head.

"Same here," said Doc, "He must be looking for some kind of information we don't have."

"In that case, the answer is simple." Scar perked up. "Magic."

"Magic?" Iskall tapped his chin. "That would make sense, considering what me and Mumbo have uncovered."

"Uncovered?" Jevin questioned.

Mumbo put a firm hand on Iskall's shoulder to stop him pacing. The redstone expert spoke quickly and briefly.

"Grian's not human, and he's not a mob either."

_____________________________________

"Yes!" Grian touched down on the top of the trees, the canopy littered with giant mushrooms and dark trees. It was a Dark Hills biome. And it was huge enough to hide a mansion.

Grian made his way to the forest floor, placing torches as he walked. He eventually built a small home with a beacon inside (so he could find it if he got lost) and placed down his bed.

It had taken him two and a half-months to find the biome, even with his wings. Now, he just wanted to turn in. He'd been careful to reserve his stamina by not flying all day (unlike his Elytra, his wings did get tired quickly) and sleep at night to avoid phantoms. That had slowed him down a ton, but he didn't want to risk dying in a place where he couldn't replace his stuff.

As Grian collapsed on his bed, he thought back to the Island.

Everyone was probably worried sick, and he felt a little guilty. But if he could figure out what was happening to him, maybe he could find a way to hide it. Then he could return, claim he was going on a grind trip, say he'd lost his stuff to lava on the way back, and no one would suspect a thing.

Whatever the case, he needed to sleep before mobs started spawning.

But as he fell asleep, a lingering feeling sat in the back of his mind that something would go wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

Grian left his sword behind, knowing that the illagers would automatically see him as hostile if he carried it. He also left his axe and shovel behind (because there was no point bringing them) but brought his pickaxe just in case. He equipped his armour, even his chestplate, and set off.

It didn't take long before he found the mansion. Grian spotted an illager outside, guarding it. Grian snuck around the back, hoping he could get inside without causing a ruckus. He broke the window and snuck into a room filled with different shades of blue wool. He snuck out of the room and into the hall, trying to stay quiet. He found himself in the massive library and began his search.

_________________________

Grian had been gone for two months, and Mumbo was super close to finishing the machine. After the hermits had figured out what Grian was after (information about Magic) it wasn't hard to figure out where he was going. Only one place would have information on magic.

The Woodland Mansion. A dangerous place full of illagers and ravagers.

Mumbo put the last piston in place. Perfect. If the machine worked, it would locate the Woodland Mansion, and then a team would take a flying machine and make their way toward it, hopefully getting there before Grian.

Mumbo stood back and hit the button. A few parts of the machine lit up, before it scanned the world past Concorp Golf. Off to the east was the mansion. It would probably take a week to fly there on a slime jet. It was likely Grian was already there, but it was their best chance.

Mumbo climbed into bed, and when he woke up, he called everyone to assemble at Sahara.

_______________

"Okay everyone. As we all know, Grian left two months ago in search of the Woodland Mansion. I was tasked with creating a gps to locate the Manor so we could hopefully get there before him. I finished the machine last night, and I have some coordinates. It's time to put together a team and build the slime jet." Mumbo addressed the twenty five hermits in front of him.

"I'd say a team of four." Impulse suggested. "I nominate Mumbo, since he's the closest friend Grian has here."

"I nominate Joe, since he's the most soft-spoken and he could probably speak with Grian the easiest." False pointed out.

Jevin nodded. "And Iskall, since he's one of the best pvp's, just in case y'all run into trouble."

The other hermits mumbled in agreement.

"So we just need one more person." Iskall said.

"Maybe Ren?"

"I was gonna suggest Cub."

"What about Impulse?"

The hermits bickered a little, trying to figure out who'd be the final hermit.

"I guess a vote is in order." Joe said, standing up.

A few minutes later, they had decided, Joe directing the vote.

"So, out of every hermit, Cleo had the highest amount of nominations. So she'll be the fourth hermit."

"I'd be honored." Cleo nodded. "Anything to see Poultry Man again."

That sentence got a few chuckles from many hermits.

"So, what are we waiting for? Joe and I can prepare, and Mumbo and Cleo can build the jet. We can be off before sunrise!" Iskall drew his sword in a flourish of encouragement and optimism.

________________________

It took one week. One week and then they saw the beacon.

"Time to jump." Cleo said, fireworks already in her hand

The four hermits abandoned the jet, since it would just fly into infinity, and glided down towards the makeshift house.

It was empty, aside from a creeper checking it out. Iskall took care of it immediately.

Joe opened the chest inside, that was next to a bed. Inside was a lot of basic materials, an axe, a shovel, and...

"He left his sword behind?" Joe asked out loud. "I mean, if he got caught in the mansion, he'd look less threatening, but isn't it still a bad decision?"

"This is the guy who stole my mustache but had no idea how to put it back. This is definitely something he'd do." Mumbo pointed out.

"Either way, we need to find that mansion." Cleo said, placing a few more torches around the outside of the mini-base.

"We should crash for the night and find him in the morning, there are mobs everywhere." Iskall placed down a few beds.

"I hate to admit it, but Iskall's right." Joe said, climbing onto the white bed.

Cleo laid down on the green bed, sighing, and Mumbo sat down on the red one without a word.

"Well, night everyone." Iskall said before crashing onto the light blue bed.


	7. Chapter 7

Why didn't he use his wings?

Of course, when Grian finally spotted the book he was looking for, he was too short to grab it. So, being _completely logical_ , he took out his pickaxe and began to hack away at the floor for blocks to pillar up to the shelf.

He realized way too late that the pickaxe was noisy. In seconds, he was surrounded by Vindicators and Evokers. And that wasn't the freakiest part.

In a blue robe, standing directly behind him, was an Illusioner. He felt a chill going up his back, and dropped his pickaxe. Illusioners didn't spawn naturally. These illagers must be doing something far darker than he'd read about.

Grian fumbled at his chestplate, ripping it off, and took flight. He forgot the Illusioner had a bow. In moments, he was running, three arrows in his wings, preventing him from flying. 

He also forgot about the Illusioner's magic. As he was running, he felt a glass bottle breaking against the back of his head, knocking him over. He felt the potion seeping into his skin and up into his brain. Almost instantly, he was blind. He struggled to his feet, forgetting what direction he was looking in.

An arrow to the backside got him running again. The illagers were herding him somewhere, and he had no choice in the matter. He heard some growls from the outside. Since the outside of the Mansion was poorly lit, Grian put two and two together. The sun must've set.

His thought were interrupted by a sudden jab to his side, causing him to fall over onto something soft.

He immediately realized what he was laying on, and knew exactly where he was in the mansion. He only had a few moments to panic before sleep swept him away unwillingly.

_____________________________________

All four hermits woke at the same time.

Mumbo was the first to speak. "The Mansion should be west from here. Anyone bring a compass?"

"Grian did, he left it in his chest." Joe quickly reached in and retrieved the compact item.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's find him!" Iskall said, tossing some golden carrots between his hands.

Cleo nodded. "East you say?" She asked Mumbo. He nodded, and Cleo too the compass from Joe and pointed in the right direction. "I guess we're off."

______________________________________

_No no no no no no no. This is not happening._

Grian panicked, covering his eyes, praying that when he opened them, he'd be back in his mini base in the forest. When he did open his eyes, he only panicked more.

He was in a two by two cage made of iron bars. There was a bed in the cell and nothing else. Even the door was iron.

He jumped to his feet and began pounding at the bars in desperation. His hands burned and Grian immediately felt his heath going down. A few moments later, he was lying on the bed again. His hands were healed, but the iron bars had no dent in them.

Sighing, Grian stared at the ceiling. At least he wasn't in a Hardcore world. He'd heard tales of those worlds, cursed to have no respawns. Then there was the Peaceful world, with no hostile mobs. And of course, there was a few select worlds that were blessed with god-like powers. Those lived in a creative world.

Grian was fine with being in a survival world. It was fun, and added a lot more of a thrill to pranking. But being stuck in a two by two cell that he couldn't escape was horrid. Grian was claustrophobic. Usually, when other hermits would trap him for a prank, they'd give him more space, or they'd have a mechanism to kill him so he didn't have to stay in the small hole for very long.

And now he was stuck. He had no pickaxe, no sword, no nothing. The other Hermits had no clue where he was, and he had no idea what would become of him. He knew that illagers did dark experiments, ones that got them kicked out of villages in the first place. Were they going to do experiments on him?

Grian felt stupid for running away. He should've taken someone with him. He should've at least told someone!

Grian glanced at his wings. They'd healed overnight, but they couldn't get him out of his cell. He could barely stand up in the cell, the ceiling only a few inches above his mop of curly hair.

Grian covered his face with his hands again, regretting a lot of things.

____________________________________

"Here!" Cleo called out. "Found it!"

The other three hermits caught up with her. In front of them, the Woodland Mansion stood tall.

"Guys..." Iskall had crept around back. "Check this out."

Around back, there was a hole in the wall. Mumbo poked his head in, and looked around. "It's one of the blue wool rooms." He whispered.

"Aren't those close to the libraries?" Joe asked quietly.

Mumbo nodded. 

"Hopefully Grian's alright." Joe whispered in response.

Iskall climbed into the building. "I say buddy system? We can cover more ground and it's safer."

Cleo nodded. "Mumbo, you're with me." She climbed into the room, Joe just behind her.

"Alright, I and Joe can start with that library. You two wanna try upstairs?" Iskall whispered.

Cleo nodded. "Whichever team finds Grian, once you're out of the mansion with him, send up a firework. If you get caught, do the same."

Joe nodded. "Good plan. Let's do this."


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Joe?" Iskall said, stopping in his tracks. "I found something."

Joe walked over to Iskall, who was just a couple aisles over. There were a few books strewn around the floor, and Iskall was holding two things in his hands. One was a diamond chestplate with low durability, and the other was a diamond pick with an inscription on the handle.

Carved into the wood were two words: Fax Machine

"It's his pick alright." Joe whispered.

"And look up there!" Iskall pointed out a book on the highest shelf. It was very clearly labeled "Curses of the Fae."

"That must be what he was looking for, but he must've ran into trouble." Iskall said quietly, placing Grian's things into his inventory.

"You mean trouble like eleven Evokers and eight Vindicators?" Joe said quickly, staring at something behind Iskall.

With those words, Iskall knew exactly what was behind him. Very quietly, he said, "Joe, I'm gonna hold them off. You set of a firework, and then run."

Joe nodded, taking a rocket out f his inventory. Iskall gave a small nod, and then turned on his heel, drawing his sword. Joe turned the other way and ran. He made his way into the wool room and out the hole, lighting a rocket and running until he was far enough from the mansion that the illagers wouldn't give chase. He spotted Cleo and Mumbo breaking a hole in the roof of the mansion and rocketing out, using the fireworks to propel themselves.

Not long after, Iskall also came rocketing out of the mansion, a book under his arm. He landed in front of Joe, along with the other two players.

Cleo was missing her boots and Mumbo had no helmet. Both looked like a mess. Iskall was in similar condition. The four quickly made their way back to the mini-base.

"So, Mumbo and I found nothing, and we actually got caught shortly before your firework went off." Cleo said before eating a couple potatoes to regain her health. "You guys?"

Joe glanced at Iskall. "We found a few things."

Iskall presented the chestplate, pickaxe, and the book. "I think Grian was going for the book so I snatched it before I ran. We also found his pick and chestplate."

"So he's in there. He must've gotten caught." Mumbo said what they all were thinking. "We need to get him out of there."

________________________________________________

The cot in his cell was now the color red.

Grian pulled his knees up to his chest, trying to ignore the horrible pain in his back. He'd heard a commotion earlier, shortly after the illusioner shoved him back in his cell. It was followed by a bit of shouting and a bunch of fireworks.

He wanted to believe it wasn't a hallucination, but after what the illusioner had done, he couldn't be sure any longer.

Grian felt his eyes getting droopy. That meant the sun was setting. He'd spent a full day in the wretched mansion, and at this point, he'd accepted his fate. He glanced down at his hands, which were dotted with blue spots. He could see the particle effects faintly swirling around his fingers. The particles were grayish green, the tell-tale mark of a weakness effect.

He quietly watched the effects until sleep whisked him away once more.

_______________________________________________

"So we can beat the Wither and the Ender Dragon, no problem, but we can't get two steps into this Mansion without almost dying?!" Iskall paced, his sword in his off-hand. "We've tried this, how many times now?"

"Forty three." Joe said calmly. "And we've been at this for almost a week."

"Yes! That many times! There's gotta be a way! Oh why didn't I borrow False's sword?" Iskall sighed, sitting down on one of the beds.

Cleo was sitting in a corner, thinking to herself. Mumbo had a book and quill out, and was brainstorming ideas.

"If only we had a way to outrun the illagers or something." Iskall rubbed his eyes. The small group had been embarrassingly failing at even infiltrating the mansion. They were running out of ideas.

It was quiet for a while, until Joe spoke. It was four words, quick, soft, and simple.

_"What would Grian do?"_


	9. Chapter 9

It had been two weeks since he'd been captured. The many scuffles in the first week had almost led him to false hope, but the last week had been silent.

He didn't want to think about the shape he was in. But what else was there to think about? As the faerie lied in his bed, waiting for sunset, he let the events of the day overwhelm him. The emotions burned, and he ended up crying. After a few minutes, the crying subsided, and he dried his face with the sleeve of his jumper.

He'd been doing that routine every evening, and it had kept him somewhat sane. He had no clue why it worked, it just did. And just afterwards, he fell asleep.

_____________________________________________

"All we need now is a stack of sand." Mumbo checked redstone off the list. Everyone had a specific part in the project, once it was built of course.

Joe closed the chest. "Looks like we have spare materials, so I'll make a couple more shovels."

"I'll grab the sand then." Cleo said, taking the last shovel.

Iskall jumped to his feet. "I'm coming with, buddy system remember?"

Mumbo nodded. "I'll get a head start on the machine, It has to be built a bit off the ground, so I'll be in the trees. Joe, wanna give me a hand?"

"I'll double check the redstone when I get back, just in case." Iskall said, walking out the door with Cleo. "Good luck!"

______________________________________________

"That's about it." Cleo said, shoveling the last bit. "Aaand, one stack!"

"Alright, let's take this SaAaaAnD back to the mini-base!"

"Do you really insist on saying it that way?" Cleo cracked a smile.

Iskall laughed a little. "Force of habit dude, it's second nature thanks to Sahara."

"Well anyways, let's hurry back, I bet Joe and Mumbo have already finished." Cleo took off, Iskall close behind.

When they arrived, they were greeted with an almost-finished machine. "We got the SaAaaAnD, I'll go ahead and craft it up." Iskall said, retrieving the other needed material from the chest.

"If all goes well, we should be able to put the plan in action tomorrow morning." Joe said optimistically.

_____________________________

So, the project took them a week, but of course, they still needed an escape route. And Cleo was the one to make it.

Which meant mining.

Cleo finally mined the third diamond, which were strangely rare in the area. It reminded her of Grian's so-called "curse of the last diamond" in which he found one diamond after forty minutes of mining. Of course, he blamed it on his last diamond, but it was still strange nonetheless.

Thinking of him sent a pang of worry through her. He may have been the newest Hermit, but he'd made an impression on everyone. With his multiple personas, Poultry Man-

She pushed the thoughts away. Gotta focus.

Cleo placed down her crafting bench and made the diamond pickaxe. She would've borrowed Grian's, but his was at a very low durability, and she knew how much he liked it. Cleo then looked around, listening for a lava pool.

When she found what she was looking for, she poured water into the pool, and began to hack away at the black rock it gave way too.

"Nine............. And ten!" Cleo pocketed the last block and made her way to the surface. And by the time she arrived at the mini-base, she was pleased to find that the project was ready.


	10. Chapter 10

The illusioner was escorting him back to his cell when it happened. He heard a strange series of noises outside, and a few seconds later, a couple Evokers ran to the illusioner, mumbling something in their language.

The illusioner nodded in Grian's direction and one of the Evoker shot a few arrows, sending Grian back to his spawn point in the tiny cell. It was only a few seconds until he heard faint hissing on the other side of the mansion before some shouting and a bunch of fireworks.

And then after what seemed like forever, there was more hissing.

And the the explosion happened.

_______________________________

"Almost there." Joe whispered. He and Cleo were crouching in a small tunnel, trying to make it to the spot they'd dug out earlier. Iskall and Mumbo had no way of knowing when they were in position, so they basically had to race the slime contraption to the mansion. Finally, they hit the end of the tunnel and waited.

And waited.

"I hear it." Cleo perked up. In the distance was a faint hissing.

And that was interrupted by some shouts from Iskall and a bunch of rockets going off... Weird.

_________________________________

"Almost there." Mumbo was perched in the front of the slime jet, and Iskall was in the back, readying himself at the contraption they'd built.

"And...." They hit the edge of the mansion. "Now!"

Iskall reached for the button, but something was already hissing. "ouT GET OUT!" He panicked, shouting. Mumbo had already rocketed away, Iskall following.

Next to the TNT was a creeper, that had somehow spawned next to Iskall while they were flying.

"Um..." Iskall hesitated.

Mumbo on the other hand, like the spoon he was, dove down and smacked the creeper with the spare piston he was holding.

_Hissssssssssss_

"Abort!" Mumbo yelped, diving off the slime jet.

__________________________________

"That.. was suspiciously late." Cleo whispered as the explosions went off.

Joe pulled out the beacon and placed it on the little shrine thing they'd built earlier. "We need to hurry."

Cleo nodded and pulled out her iron shovel. She could already feel the haste seeping in. One reason the project had taken so long was because they needed the beacon, which meant a few trips to the nether and a lot more mining than they'd anticipated.

She began shoveling away the dirt, tunneling much farther under the mansion than they could earlier. Now that Mumbo and Iskall had distracted the Evokers and Vindicators, they could tunnel underneath without having to worry about too much noise.

A few minutes later, they hit a wall, in which they tunneled a bit under. "This it?" Cleo asked.

Joe nodded. "I think so. Ready?"

Cleo nodded, taking out Iskall's sword.

___________________________________

Mumbo hit the ground, surprised he'd survived that. In his panic, he forgot how Elytra worked and hit the ground full force.

He glanced up to see Iskall in a tree and a split second later, the creeper exploded, setting off the Tnt that was supposed to launch into the mansion. Oh well. It still created a diversion nonetheless.

Iskall hopped down from the tree and the two ran back to the Mini-base. Mumbo began packing up the base as Iskall hopped through the portal they'd made and glanced at the compass. He moved so he was facing East, and waited.

___________________________________

Joe hacked a hole in the top of the tunnel and climbed out into the room. There was a couple Vindicators facing away from him as he pulled Cleo up.

Cleo ran forward, and took the two Vindicators before they could alert any other illagers. Joe looked around. There was a door to his right, and to his left...

"Grian!?"


	11. Chapter 11

In a corner cell, huddled in a ball on a bloody bed, was Grian.

And he looked terrible.

He had blue spots dotting his hands and face, and his red sweater was torn and had what looked to be burn marks on it. Grian also had two painful-looking horns sprouting out the top of his head. Grian had red streaks on his face, as if his tears had left scars, and his wings...

"Hey Grian." He whispered softly, slowly approaching the cell. Grian looked terrified, like a skittish fox. "Remember me?"

Grian was shaking, and the words that came out sent shivers down Joe's back. "Are... Are you real?"

It was a genuine question.

Joe opened the Iron door and broke the Redstone so it wouldn't close behind him. He stepped into the tiny cell. Poor Grian. Joe knew he hated confined spaces.

Joe reached out a hand to Grian and gave him a smile. "It's alright. I'm here. We're going to get you out of here, for good."

Grian tentatively took Joe's hand and Joe pulled him to his feet and out of the cell. Grian stumbled, and Joe let him lean against him for support. "Time to get out of here." He said, wrapping an arm around the fae's shoulders.

__________________________________________________

Mumbo finished packing up the base, everything neatly in shulker boxes. All that was left was the nether portal. He climbed inside and broke the portal before standing next to Iskall.

"No sign yet." Iskall glanced at Mumbo. "I hope nothing went wrong."

"They should be fine," Mumbo fidgeted with his tie. "Cleo's a formidable fighter, and Joe's pretty smart."

Some time passed, and even Mumbo was beginning to think they should go back and find them.

"Where are they?" Mumbo whispered, half to himself.

___________________________________________________

Cleo was running, glancing around for the flint and steel. She must've dropped it while she was fighting the Vindicators, but where had it gone?

Oh..... crap.

An illager with a blue robe was holding the said tool.

"Oh. _You._ " Cleo drew Iskall's sword. This was the illusioner that had been hurting Grian. 

She was ready for the fight, but worried about Joe and Grian. After she'd realized she dropped the lighter, she'd ran back up to find it. Joe'd said he'd watch Grian, but the tunnel wasn't well lit and the sun was beginning to set. She had to get the flint and steel back before zombies began spawning, or worse.

"Well," Cleo took a breath and began approaching the illager. "Guess we fight."

________________________________________________

Grian shivered. Joe had removed his jumper and was carefully applying a healing potion to his back. He didn't want to look at his wings, he knew they'd only remind him of what the illusioner had done.

"You're doing great, just stay with me." Joe said calmly. "Once we get back home, Doc and Scar will fix you up. There's bound to be something in Area 77 to help. Remember Area 77?"

Grian cracked a small smile. "Hippie land. Of course."

Joe chuckled. "Just stay with me bud. Cleo'll be back any minute with the lighter, and we'll be in the nether and out of this tunnel." He finished applying the potion and helped Grian put his jumper back on. 

Even after respawning in the cell, the magical wounds the illager had given him had stayed. Joe was doing his best to keep Grian alive, but the wounds were like a slow wither effect, eating away at his health.

Grian keeled over, feeling faint.

"Whoa! Stay with me." Joe pulled Grian back into a sitting position. "Stay awake, okay? You need to stay awake a bit longer-"

_"Grrrrrrrrr"_

Joe glanced over his shoulder, and sure enough, mobs had begun to spawn.

_"Cleo, please hurry."_


	12. Chapter 12

Cleo whirled around, the blade in her hands cutting through the illusions. She had no clue which of the figures was the actual Illusioner, but she had to try anyways.

Cleo got an idea, something she'd picked up from the Civil war a while ago. She quickly sprinted away from the battle, putting some space between herself and the enemy. She scanned the hallway, and spotted a floating flint and steel disappearing around a corner.

"Caught ya." Cleo gave chase, and in seconds, she had the illusioner cornered. Well, the invisible illusioner. Back in the Civil war, invisibility potions were valuable. She remembered how Team Star had attempted to invade the Gteam base, but since the Gteam knew ahead of time, they snatched some invisibility potions and ambushed the intruders.

The illusioner seemed to bail, dropping the lighter, causing it to completely vanish from sight. Cleo took the opportunity to grab the flint and steel, and run for it. She knew the illusioner could attack her at any moment, but she'd already wasted enough time. She needed to get back to Joe and Grian, but had a sinking feeling she was too late.

_________________________________________

Joe was standing in front of Grian, who was propped up against the nether portal. Joe winced as he took another arrow. All he had to defend himself and Grian was his enchanted shovel. His armour was taking the bulk of the damage, but Joe was still low on health.

"Stay with me Grian, tell me Sahara's motto." Joe had been asking Grian questions every few seconds to make sure he was still conscious.

He heard Grian shift a little bit. "We sell everything..... B-but we also have a lotta saaaand."

Grian was too weak to even do the funny fluctuations Iskall would do whenever mentioning sand.

What also concerned Joe was how the soil around Grian's feet was beginning to yield black, thorny roots.

________________________________________

"I'm going to give them two more minutes before we rebuild the portal over there and rescue them." Iskall said, again pacing.

Mumbo was fidgeting even nervously than before. "Come on...."

______________________________________

Cleo jumped down into the tunnel and ran straight for the nether portal. "I got it! Let's get out of here!"

Joe stumbled backwards and helped lift up Grian as Cleo lit the obsidian and the quickly jumped through.

Joe ran towards Iskall and Mumbo. "We need healing stuff, now!"

Iskall and Mumbo ran towards them, Mumbo pulling out the shulker box with all the food. "Here's some Golden carrots and a couple more healing potions." He handed over the items.

"Do you have any golden apples? Grian's got some wounds that can't be fixed with regen." Joe quickly brought his own health up to a better stat and began to administer the potions to Grian.

Mumbo dug through the box. "Yes, we have two." He handed them to Cleo.

"I'll fly ahead and get Scar and Doc on standby, they'll know what to do." Iskall took a stack of rockets out of his inventory.

Cleo nodded. "Stay safe, and hurry."

____________________________________________

Iskall stumbled out of the closest portal, which flying to had taken the entire stack of rockets and then some. He immediately stumbled into Scar, who was restocking ender pearls for the Golf game.

"Whoa- Iskall?" Scar immediately sounded alarmed.

Iskall took a moment to catch his breath and managed to get out "Grian... Hurt... Magical... Bad..."

Scar frowned. "Did you try golden apples?"

Iskall nodded. 

"Okay, I have an enchanted one I got from a desert temple in my base, I'll be right back."

"Bring lots of rockets too!" Iskall called after him.

_____________________________________________

Everything was fuzzy, and it felt like someone had stuffed cotton balls in his ears. Grian heard shouting, but it sounded far away.

And he was hot. Really hot. His wounds burned and he wasn't sure where he was.

A calm, soothing voice managed to cut through the fog in his head.

"Grian, are you poultry man?"

"n..no." Grian mumbled. "it's not me..."

"It's who?"

"the man in the... chicken..."

"He's barely conscious." The voice said, addressing someone else. "We need to keep him awake."

The voice, which was getting fuzzier, addressed him again. "Grian, what's the name of your first skeleton horse?"

Grian knew the answer, it was Jack Skelebone. But his mouth wouldn't move. Everything was dark, and the sound started to fade away.

"Grian?"

"Stay with me Gria-"

And then silence.


	13. Chapter 13

"That was too close." Mumbo sighed, putting his face in his hands. "That was way too close."

Joe put a hand on the Redstoner's shoulder. "He'll be okay. He's a fighter."

"I know." Mumbo and Joe were sitting just outside of Area 77, waiting. When they'd finally gotten Grian out of the Nether, the enchanted golden apple had already worn off. They managed to get him to Area 77 and onto a bed before he died. It was a panicky two minutes before Grian had spawned on the bed.

Now, they were stuck outside as Scar and Doc treated Grian's injuries. Iskall had to leave to fix one of his farms, and Cleo had her own projects. And that left Mumbo and Joe.

After a couple painstaking hours, the two Hermits were greeted by Scar. Mumbo immediately jumped to his feet. "Is Grian okay?"

Scar nodded. "He's resting. I and Doc had to get creative, but we've managed to somewhat cure those wounds. There are a few... Afflictions that may take a few days to clear up, but he should be okay. He just needs some quiet. Doc's watching him for now, in case anything comes up."

"So we can't see him?"

Scar shook his head. "Not for a couple days, but as soon as he regain his strength, I'll let you know. For now, you two should get some sleep."

_________________________________________

"And I think that's good." Iskall said, walking over to the shulker box and placing one of the Gteam flags inside.

Mumbo smiled and closed the box. "This care package was a great idea Iskall."

It had been a full twenty-four hours since they'd rescued Grian, and Doc had informed them that they'd be able to see Grian that afternoon. Iskall had the great idea of putting together a care package for their friend, in hopes of cheering him up and welcoming him back home.

Inside the shulker box was a few trinkets from past events like the OG tag, a Gteam banner, and even Grian's flower crown and beads from when he raided Area 77. 

Mumbo knew that Grian loved the flower crown and beads, but stopped wearing them since they got in the way of his Elytra and helmet. But since Grian had wings and horns, he couldn't really wear either. From what Mumbo heard from Doc and Scar, Grian's horns would be somewhat covered by his hair, once it was styled back to his normal, curly hairdo. Even so, Grian wouldn't be able to wear a helmet.

"We should have just enough time to swing by cub and borrow a cake." Iskall said, checking his watch. "Then it's a matter of waiting at the Hippie commune for Doc and Scar to let us in."

Mumbo put the box in his inventory. "Well, let's go then."

__________________________________________

Cleo had spread the news. As soon as she found out Grian was going to recover well, she told everyone else on the island. At noon, she and Joe met with Mumbo and Iskall at the Hippie commune. There was a good handful of other hermits there, including Ren and Impulse.

Scar flew in on his Elytra and landed on top of the Dye Farm Camper. Everyone glanced in his direction. "Alright guys, as you know, Grian's still recovering, but he'll be fine. He's still jumpy so we're only allowing two visitors at a time."

"So Iskall and Mumbo?" Cleo said, pointing them out.

Scar nodded. "Yeah. Others can visit later, but for now it'll just be them two."

___________________________________________

Grian sat propped up in a bed in one of the smaller hangars. He remembered waking up some time ago, but he hadn't seen anyone else except Doc and Scar, who'd been monitoring him carefully. After a few homemade potions, Grian's wounds began to heal, and he stopped dying every ten minutes. Even his spots began to fade.

His new horns looked worse than they were, and were actually the first to heal. He was pleased that he could somewhat hide them in his hair, but still bummed he couldn't wear a helmet. His wings on the other hand, were another story.

They'd been in bad shape, and for a scary amount of time, Doc and Scar had believed they were beyond repair. But after a couple painful X-rays, thanks to a failed redstone machine they'd had as an exhibit, they'd concluded that the wings would heal after all. Unfortunately, Grian would be restricted from flying for a while.

As of now, Grian was fully conscious, and felt much better. He still was anxious, and was very aware that because of the trauma, his claustrophobia had gotten worse. Scar had also told him that he may have PTSD. Actually, that it was likely he had PTSD.

But on the bright side, he was home. And from what he'd overheard from Doc, the other hermits knew Grian wasn't human, and were just fine with it. Some had even said that "it was about time."

Grian cracked a smile. He still wanted to figure out why he became a Faerie, since there was no known explanation, but he was relieved that the others saw it in a good way.

And on another note: He was going to see his fellow architects in a few minutes.


	14. Chapter 14

"Grian?"

Grian perked up. He looked over to the door, and as he'd hoped, Mumbo and Iskall were standing there.

Grian felt himslef at a loss for words. Should he apologize? Should he laugh? Or should he not speak at all? He wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't had a full conversation in three months.

Mumbo ran forward and threw his arms around Grian. "I'm so glad you're okay! Everyone missed you so much!"

Grian blinked, and in milliseconds, he was tearing up. "I missed you all too! I'm just happy to be home."

"Grian, please, never leave without an explanation ever again." Iskall moved forward and stood on the opposite side of the bed from Mumbo. His voice was stern, but his entire demeanor was happy and relieved.

Grian felt a smile spread across his face. "I promise guys, that was really stupid of me."

"Of course it was, but we forgive you." Mumbo finally stopped hugging him. "And you have a lot of explaining to do."

"But first," Iskall interjected, "we put something together to cheer you up. A little care package, y'know, since you'll be stuck in here for another couple days."

Grian blinked. "Really?"

Mumbo nodded. "We sorta had to look through your stuff but I hope you don't mind."

"Wow, you achieved the impossible! You found what you were looking for in my base!" Grian joked.

Iskall rolled his eyes. "It took us all morning, and your base isn't the only place we looked." He handed Grian the shulker box and sat on the edge of the bed, Mumbo doing the same.

Grian grinned and opened it.

He pulled out the first item, the OG tag. "Hey I thought we lost it?"

"Well, technically Scar was still tagged, and he actually had the tag in his storage room." Mumbo answered.

Grian pulled out the banner. "Oh this brings back memories!" He laughed a little. "That war was crazy."

He then pulled out the cake. "That's from cub, isn't it?"

"Freshly made this morning!" Iskall nodded.

Grian pulled out a clock. "Wait, is this from where I think it is?"

Mumbo grinned. "It ended up staying behind when you made your trip to alpha. Doc had it stored with Villager Grian, but let us borrow it."

"And it's still in perfect shape! A little cracked of course, but it still works fine." Grian grinned.

He then pulled out a familiar pickaxe. "My Fax Machine! I thought I lost it in the mansion!"

"I found it in the library the during our first rescue attempt." Iskall said.

Grian then pulled out the final two items.

"Oh... Wow..."

"I thought, since you can't wear an Elytra or Helmet, you'd want to wear those. I know how much you love them." Mumbo gave Grian a warm smile.

Grian didn't even hesitate to put the flower crown and beads on. "Thank you so much guys!"

"It's nothing. We're all just glad to have you back." Iskall said happily.

For the next few minutes, they chatted about miscellaneous things, just letting the time fly.

Finally, Grian addressed the elephant in the room. "I should probably explain uh..." He gestured to his wings, his horns... "All this."

Mumbo and Iskall nodded.

"Well, to be honest," Grian smiled sheepishly. "I have no idea either. That's why I went to the mansion. They have information about magic and curses. What I found out was that I'm a Faerie now. What I couldn't find, was why or how."

Iskall tapped his chin. "You were trying to get a specific book when you were caught, yes?"

Grian nodded.

"Well, when I grabbed your pick, I snatched the book too. Almost got my head chopped off in the process, but it was worth it." Iskall finished. "It's sitting in my enchanting room at the moment, but once you're better, we could maybe figure this out."

"Awesome!" Grian seemed much more relaxed. "I'll have to recover quicker."

"Yeah, but don't hurt yourself." Mumbo gently elbowed Grian with a smile. "You gotta take it easy, okay?"

"Okay." Grian sighed, still smiling. "But again, thank you guys."


	15. Chapter 15

Grian took in a deep breath. It felt good to be outside for a change. To be free.

It was about a week after Mumbo and Iskall's first visit, and Doc had finally let Grian leave the bed and walk outside. 

And it felt amazing.

If Grian wanted, he could do almost anything he wanted, except fly. His wings were still healing, but physically, he'd pretty much completely recovered. He'd found a way to hide his horns in his hair, and was ready to set off to Iskall's base.

"Thank you Doc." His words were brief, but meaningful. Doc and Scar had practically-and literally-brought him back from the dead. 

Doc nodded. "It's no problem. Now, prepare yourself, spawn island may still be trapped from the demise game."

"I know, but even if I die, I'll still be in the same place." Grian grinned. "I'll be fine."

Doc smiled. "Well, the bed's broken and your stuffs in the Ender chest. Whenever you're ready."

Grian glanced down into the chasm in front of him. Doc had said that the quickest way to the old lands was by heading to spawn island, so Grian put his stuff in an Ender chest, Doc had broken the bed, then they dug a deep hole for Grian to jump into, since fall damage was the least painful way of dying.

"Well, let's do this." Grian jumped.

__________________________________________________

He opened his eyes, and sure enough, he was lying on his back on spawn island.

"That was quick." Grian pulled himself to his feet and winced a little. He'd forgotten how uncomfortable it was to not spawn on a bed. "Now to get to Iskall's..." He quickly hopped into the nether portal and fund himself in the nether hub. He roamed around the map, trying to remember where Iskall's base was.

Once he found the portal, he hopped through and almost crashed into Iskall, who apparently was just leaving.

"Oh, hi Grian." Iskall helped Grian up. "So you've gotten the okay from Doc and Scar?"

Grian nodded. "And I feel great. I was just heading over here to find you. I think it's time to figure out, well, this." He guestered at his wings.

"Sounds good, I was just about to look for Mumbo anyways." Iskall nodded. "You can stay here, I'll grab our mustched friend." He hopped into his portal. "Oh and don't touch the redstone!"

Grian watched as Iskall vanished into the nether. "Like that'll stop me." He chuckled. Iskall better hope his button and levers are well hidden, because Grian had an issue with pushing things.

_________________________________

"Hey Mumbo!"

"Oh." Iskall landed at the entrance to Mumbo's AFK bunker. "He's AFK, isn't he." Iskall approached the keypad at the door. Had Mumbo at least changed the combination? Iskall punched in the code that had worked previously. 1234.

"No, you haven't." Iskall mumbled, entering the bunker and approaching the redstoner. "Alright, time to pull you outta this."

He put his hands on Mumbo's shoulders, and woke him the only way he knew how.

By shaking him.

There wasn't really a better way. Going AFK basically meant the Hermit was in a self-induced, sleep-like state. It was a bit like daydreaming, but it lasted for days. The Hermit could snap themself out of it at will, but it was difficult for outside people to do it.

So shaking was the best option.

"Hmmm- wha?" Mumbo muttered wearlily. "What's going on?"

"Mumbo, wake up."

Mumbo blinked and had to take a moment to get his bearings. "Did you seriously yank me out of AFK?" He asked Iskall.

"Yep! Now we got a meeting to do. Grian's recovered."

"Oh. Oh good! I guess it's time to figure things out." Mumbo seemed a bit more awake.

"Well, come on bro." Iskall grabbed Mumbo's hand and pretty much dragged him to the nether portal. "I bed Grian's broken something by now."

"You left him at your base, didn't you."

"...yeah, I left him at my base."

Mumbo laughed. "Let's hope your redstone's well hidden then."


	16. Chapter 16

"Oh _crap._ "

"Iskall?"

"Remember how you trapped a button a few months ago? Y'know, the one at your witch farm?"

Mumbo frowned. "Yes and?"

"Well," Iskall sprinted over to the portal to his base. "I kind of... Took inspiration and did the same thing..."

"And you think Grian might've fallen for it."

"Well, I still haven't fully finished it, so... Possibly not? The redstone to the piston in the floor is still exposed." Iskall glanced around his base as Mumbo stepped through the portal.

"Grian?" Mumbo called. No answer.

Iskall led Mumbo through a few rooms until they arrived in Iskall's "control room" which had a few buttons and levers in it.

And in the corner of the room, one block was missing.

Mumbo and Iskall kneeled down at the edge of the hole and peered down.

"Oh Grian, what was the one thing I told you not to do?"

"Touch your redstone."

"And what did you do?"

"...touch your redstone."

Grian sat at the bottom of the hole, which luckily was hollowed out quite a bit. He glanced up at the redstoners with a sheepish grin.

"Funny story, I noticed the trap and decided to finish it by connecting the redstone to the piston and... well..." Grian laughed a little. "I broke it and now I'm stuck."

Iskall facepalmed and looked at Mumbo. "I had a way up that was connected to the piston, since I was still digging out the hole. I was going to fill it with pufferfish later but..."

"Aw come on guys! I was trying to fix it!" Grian pouted a little, trying to hide his cheeky grin, and not really succeeding. "Now, could you guys help me out of here?"

_________________________________________________

The idea that Faeries existed still puzzled him.

If they were a new mob, maybe it wouldn't be as confusing, but these Faeries were basically a new species of Player. One that could fly, and use levitation magic, and grow plants without bone meal, and-

Scar drummed his fingers on the table. Of course, there were other species of Player. They had a couple on the server. Cleo was a kind of undead species, and Jevin? Well he's whatever he is. And of course, there's Doc. Half cyborg, and the other half either zombie, alien, or creeper. So other player species weren't unknown.

But a species with wings? And magical powers that didn't come from enchanting tables or potions?

That confused him. Usually, other species of Player were pretty much the same as the original species of player. Take Cleo for example: she's basically a zombie, but that doesn't mean she cant die and respawn.

This new species almost reminded him of...

No. There's no way they could be connected.

But the Faeries in legend were half-immortal. They don't age like players, but they can die from wounds. They can't be poisoned or made ill, but they can outlive many players. They also have somewhat similar powers.

But this was a survival world. And as far as he knew, the Fey were just legends.

Well, until Grian suddenly turned into one.

But why him? Why now?

_And why did it make so much sense?_

Scar sighed to himself. Even before growing wings, Grian did display some Fae-like traits. It wasn't until now that Scar had put two and two together.

Grian was mischievous, he had a way with birds, and he pranked others a lot. He was an incredible builder, and a terrible redstoner, which made sense. Most redstone is well, red. And Fey can't see red as well as players. 

Then there was Grian's singing. He liked to make up short little songs sometimes, that really caught on to everyone. They were usually less than a minute long, and totally on the spot and were only relevant to what he was doing at that exact moment, and yet... They got stuck in other Hermit's heads like glue.

But the more physical attributes had only popped up now. It seemed the horns weren't caused by the illusioner, but simply by the fact that Grian was still physically shifting from an original player to a Fae.

But still, Scar had a feeling that Fae weren't Players. They were something different. Something created that broke the laws of the universe.

Something created by a glitch.

A realization hit scar like a bag of bricks.

"Of course!" He jumped up, almost knocking over the table.

It was a simple memory. But he knew it wasn't the only time it had happened.

_______________________________

_Scar, come here, you need to see this!_

Scar glanced at his communicator. Grian was calling him over to Hermitville for some reason. Well, he wasn't really in the middle of anything, so he headed over.

And he was pretty shocked at what he found. Grian was glitching? Grian was in what looked to be a permanent swimming position, and was jumping weirdly. And if Grian turned the right way, he was glitched completely into the ground.

It was a strange glitch, and it went away shortly, but it was strange nonetheless. Scar laughed and made a joke about putting Grian in Area 77, before leaving to continue his work.


	17. Chapter 17

Iskall plopped the book onto the table. "Here it is."

The book in question was an old, dusty, leather-bound book with the title neatly set in the side and on the cover. "Curses of the Fae." Mumbo read. "By... Anonymous."

"Well, let's crack on with this." Grian said, opening the book. "Okay, table of contents. Looks like an encyclopedia of Fae spells and-"

"Wait, you can read that?" Iskall interrupted Grian.

Grian frowned. "You can't?"

"Well, the cover was in English, but this page is in some kind of runic language." Mumbo said, pointing at the page.

Sure enough, when Grian looked, it wasn't in English. But somehow, he could understand it. "Huh. I don't know any other languages than English."

"It's most likely some kind of Fae runes, if Grian can read it." Iskall inferred.

"Oh. So now I can read some kind of mythical language. At least it's not something like my Iron problem." Grian said, absentmindedly flipping through the book. He wasn't much of a reader, but the contents were interesting. It spoke about different curses that Fae could inflict others with, or how humans could curse Faeries. It especially highlighted the Faerie Stroke. It was an ailment that some Fae could cast on others at will and could injure the target, and most of the time, make the target sick.

"Earth to Grian." Mumbo nudged Grian with his elbow. 

"Hm? Oh Sorry, I was just flipping through the book." Grian blinked. Standing behind Iskall was Scar, who had a notebook in his hand. " Oh, hey Scar."

"Hi Grian. Anyways, as I was saying, I might've gotten a lead on your 'condition', but I'm not entirely sure where it'll go."

"A lead?" Grian perked up.

"Yeah. Remember the dolphin glitch?" Scar asked.

"You mean the one where I was stuck flying?"

Scar nodded. "As I know, that's happened to you a couple more times since Hermitville. It hasn't happened to anyone else, as far as I know."

"And what does this have to do with Grian?" Iskall asked.

"Well, to put it simply, I don't think it was a glitch at all." Scar opened his notebook. "This 'glitch' was basically what would happen if the Dolphin's Grace spell worked on land. But you were nowhere near any Dolphins."

"So a glitch." Grian said, still not getting Scar's point.

Scar sighed. "While that is a possible reason, I don't think it holds any weight. This happened as you were about to fly into the nether portal, but when it happened, you weren't touching any blocks. Most glitches happen when a subject A, the one who gets glitched, comes into contact with Subject B, the catalyst. If you were Subject A, then Subject B would be the Air. But again, there's nothing there."

Grian still looked clueless.

"Grian, most glitches happen through contact, but when you glitched, you weren't touching anything." Iskall explained.

"Ohhhhhh." Grian nodded. "Okay, that makes sense."

"So," Scar finished, "I think you accidentally and unconsciously cast Dolphin's Grace on yourself."

Grian frowned. "But how?"

Mumbo came up with a good analogy. "Harry potter still cast magic on accident before he found out he was a wizard."

"So you're saying..." Grian finally understood.

"Yes. You've been a Faerie for a long time. And I have more evidence." Scar placed his open notebook on the table. "Earlier, I was thinking about our condition, and then I started to piece things together. For example, Fae tend to be very mischievous, and some a really good with animals. They don't see the color red as well as human, which explains Grian's _interesting_ redstone proficiency, and of course there's the singing. We've all had one of Grian's songs stuck in our heads at one point or another."

In the notebook was more hastily scribbled notes about Grian personality connecting him to the Fey.

"I think Grian's always been Fae, but it took a specific stimuli to begin Grian's physical growth as one." Scar concluded. "And if we find the stimuli, well, we'll have all the information we need."


	18. Chapter 18

"Hey Scar?" Grian nervously peeked his head into Scar's base. "I uh..." He found himself stumbling for words.

For the last week, Scar and the Architects had been searching for the thing that had sparked Grian physical changes, but with no luck. And Grian, being the impulsive guy he was, decided the study the Fae book a bit more. His logic was that maybe if something triggered his magic back in Hermitville, then perhaps the same thing caused his wings and horns to grow in.

And... Well...

Grian found himself in eye contact with Scar. "Y'know how I decided to try practicing magic? Well..." He was shaking a little, and was sounding like a kid who got in trouble but was trying to hide it.

"Show me." Scar said, setting down the book he was searching through. He knew it took a lot for Grian to feel bad about something,

"It.. It's a-at my base." Grian stammered, taking off, Scar following.

Scar frowned, wondering what had Grian so upset. But as they came into view of his "modern blender", it became somewhat evident what had happened. The two hermits landed inside the top layer, which was what used to be Grian's atrium.

The once-green trees were bare, red and gold leaves littering the dry, lifeless grass. The melons scattered about had rotten so much, that they were practically just dust. The Sea lanterns cleverly hidden under green-now black-carpets were grey and cracked, the light gone. The flowers had all wilted, and a strange cold chill hung around the area, freezing enough that Scar's breaths came out in puffs of fog. Cobwebs littered the corners, and the huge glass walls were slightly foggy, and the glass itself had lost its blue tint. The sight sent chills down Scar's back, both figuratively and literally.

And in a corner was some fresh dirt, which confused Scar at first. But when the terraformer noticed the extra feathers in Grian's hair, he understood.

"Grian... I'm so sorry-"

"It's my fault." Grian said quickly and quietly. "I don't know what happened, Ari kept annoying me and I... I snapped."

Scar was taken aback. Sure, Grian did get annoyed at his parrots, but he loved them. He rarely snapped as he was. But something like this happening? It was sorta unnerving. Scar must've looked really shocked, because Grian took a few steps back.

"I killed my entire atrium because Ari kept chirping. What if another Hermit gets on my nerves? And I was just messing around with different spells, I'd never try anything like this-" Grian was pacing frantically.

"Deep breaths Grian, okay?" Scar put a hand on the faerie's shoulder. He wasn't sure how to calm down Grian, this was more of Stress or Joe's thing. "Let's just... Go downstairs for a bit okay?"

Grian gave a shaky nod. Scar noticed how Grian was on the verge of tears. The two made their way down to the bottom level, and Scar sat down Grian on his bed. "I'm going to message Mumbo, and call him over. You just sit tight okay?"

Grian gave another shaky nod, and Scar made his way over to Grian's mail system.

__________________________________________

Mumbo looked up from his redstone work to see that his beacon was green. He wondered what Grian was messaging him about. Oh well, it's not like he was working on anything important, just a quick fix to his super smelter with a bit of Iskall's help. He headed over to his mail room.

He was surprised to see a book in his mail chest. He opened it and read the contents.

_Hey mumbo. I need you to come over to Grian's base immediately. Something bad happened and Grian really needs a hug right now. If Iskall is with you, bring him too._

_\- GoodTimesWithScar_

That... Doesn't sound good. Mumbo turned and called to Iskall, "We need to head over to Grian's. It sounds urgent."

"Really, well lets get there ASAP then!" Iskall hopped off of the top of Mumbo's super smelter building, his elytra spreading out smoothly behind him.

Mmbo one the other hand, took off with a less graceful ascension. Nevertheless, they were at Grian's base in a matter of minuets. "What happened?" Iskall wondered out loud as they landed on the outer ring.

"I was going to ask the same thing." Mumbo averted his eyes from the top layer and jumped into the base. In one of the corners, Scar was comforting a very upset Grian, who was sitting on his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest.

Mumbo and Iskall practically ran over. "What happened?" Mumbo asked quietly.

Grian shook his head, but Scar spoke. "Grian accidentally destroyed his atrium, and his bird died in the process. He feels really bad about it."

"I didn't accidentally do it." Grian whispered dejectedly. "I was mad at Ari, and then..." He buried his head in his knees.

Mumbo sat down on Grian's other side and wrapped his arms around the small hermit. "Grian, it's okay. You didn't mean it, and that's what matters."

Iskall and Scar joined the hug. "Dude, we can always rebuild your atrium, and besides, you only just discovered you have powers. Of course something's gonna go wrong, that just how it works." Iskall said comfortingly.

"But what if I hurt someone?" Grian asked.

"You won't." Scar said a little firmly. "Because you're Grian. We all know it takes a lot for a Hermit to make you mad."

Grian sniffled, the group hug making him spill over a bit. He gave a bitter laugh that turned into a couple minutes of sobbing. The entire time, Scar, Iskall, and Mumbo were hugging him.

By the time Grian had calmed down, the sun had already set. He felt drowsy, and when the three hermits finally pulled away, Grian began to drift into sleep. He managed to get a quick "thank you" before passing out.

_________________________________

"Poor Grian." Mumbo whispered, as the three Hermits watched the Faerie drift into unconsciousness. "He's still surprisingly fragile after what happened. If this had happened before the incident with the mansion, he would've still freaked out, but he'd calm down much quicker and not blame himself."

"If this happens again, maybe he should start spending some more time with Joe or Stress." Scar suggested.

Iskall nodded. "For now, let's let him be. And tomorrow, we should help him rebuild his Atrium."

"Good idea." Mumbo and Scar answered in unison, and the three left Grian to sleep.

But as Mumbo headed for his own base, he couldn't help but wonder,

_What if there's more to this that we originally thought?_


	19. Chapter 19

Grian lied in bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't know how to go about the day, considering what had happened yesterday. But nevertheless, he eventually dragged himself upright and began his morning routine.

It of course, started with him straightening his wings, which had been healing nicely. He technically wasn't supposed to fly for another two days, but in his panic yesterday, he'd flown to Scar's and back. It of course, hurt a ton now. Guess his flight deadline was pushed farther back. Another two days, most likely.

Grian sighed audibly and began to painfully straighten the feathers that had been ruffled in his sleep. As usual, he also brushed some feathers off his bed that had broken off in his sleep. It was a strange addition to his morning routine, but necessary as he'd discovered.

He stood up and stretched after he finished, noticing how messy his base was. Even after he'd created the shulker monster upstairs, he'd managed to make a mess. One that he probably should clean up. It's not like he had any projects going on, so he mentally put that on the agenda, along with...

Grian held back a lump in his throat. He needed to rebuild his Atrium. It probably wouldn't be the same, but either way he needed to get rid of what remained. Everything needed to be cleared out. Nothing was salvageable. Might as well start now. He took the bubble elevator to the top (which was the first thing he'd finished when he moved back into his base) and shivered as he stepped out into the long-gone nature room.

He pulled out his shovel and got to work.

______________________________________

"Hey Grian." Iskall said, landing behind the Faerie.

Grian jumped a little. "Oh, it's you. Good morning."

Iskall held up a shulker box full of fresh grass and bone meal. "I thought I'd help. Mumbo'll be joining us later."

"You don't have to-"

"I know. But I want to." Iskall said, setting down the shulker box.

Grian sighed. "Alright. I guess we should finish clearing this space out?"

"I'll also put down some torches to clear out the chill in here." Iskall nodded. "I'll start with the trees. At least we can recycle them for furnace fuel."

Grian silently went back to his work. He was incredibly anxious, but something about the way Iskall spoke, or the way Iskall let him have his space... Well, it helped to say the least.

________________________________

Mumbo dropped down into the Atrium a couple hours later. By then, Iskall and Grian had cleared out the top layer and had just about finished laying the new grass and sea lanterns down.

"Hey guys, I brought some fish." Mumbo said, setting down the buckets he was carrying. "I've got a salmon and two cod."

Grian perked up a little. "Really? That's great! I'll get started on the pond."

As Grian got busy, Iskall handed Mumbo a stack of wood and whispered, "Grian's cheered up a little since this morning, but he still seems a bit anxious."

Mumbo took the wood. "Considering what happened yesterday, I can understand why. Hopefully he feels better soon."

____________________________________

Grian chalked it up to an accident. Yesterday's incident was just an accident, wasn't it? Iskall was right, he only just discovered his magic, there was bound to be some hiccups along the way.

But just to be safe, Grian decided to practice his magic in a secluded area, somewhere only he knew about.

So he moved the book to his hidden lab in Hermitville. No one else really knew how to get in there, and it was far enough underground that if something did go wrong, he wouldn't destroy anything important.

On another note, the Architects had rebuilt his Atrium in a matter of hours. The only thing missing was some new parrots, which Grian had purposely avoided. It was a bit too soon. And as for his mental promise to "clean his room"...

He, of course, forgot. He knew he'd never get around to it, but at least he'd moved the stray shulker boxes out of the middle of the floor. 

As Grian climbed into bed, he wondered if he should continue to pursue answers. But he knew that he'd never stop wondering why he'd woken up one morning with wings, so without another thought, he lied his head down and fell asleep


	20. Chapter 20

Iskall glanced up as someone stepped out of his nether portal. It was late afternoon, and he wasn't really expecting anyone, so he was pleasantly surprised to see his fellow Architect. "Grian? What brings you here? Figured something out?"

"No." Grian fidgeted with his hippie necklace. "Just antsy, I guess."

"Oh." Iskall set down the comparators he was fiddling with and turned to face Grian. "Bored, huh?"

"Yeah, but most of the minigames in Hermitville require multiple players or they're down for repairs, etc. So I'm just wandering around."

"I expected you to be pranking someone if you've got nothing better to do."

"All my good ideas require an AFK person, and everyone seems to be busy. I was wondering if you need any help or..."

Iskall glanced at the comparators. "Honestly, I'm just experimenting with stuff. Maybe we can head over to Scar's and see if he's found anything."

"Okay, I guess." Grian answered.

"Grian?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You sound a bit..."

Grian sighed a little. "I'll be honest, I'm a bit paranoid, but it's probably nothing."

_________________________________________________

"I think we've tried everything." Scar said, pacing. Grian and Iskall had come over a few minutes ago, and Scar had no progress. "It's weird, an entirely new type of Player, but only explainable by glitches? But they'd be patched up as soon as they appear. So how is Grian here? And why?"

"I wish I knew." Grian was sitting on a couch with his chin in his hands, Iskall next to him.

Iskall tapped his own chin. "What if we look at mobs and see if we can find one connected?"

"I've tried. There's only four flying mobs, and two are far too recent to even be connected." Scar said.

"So phantoms and bees are out. But we still have bats and vexes." Iskall replied.

Grian frowned. "Vexes? I've always wondered how they spawn."

"You don't know?" Scar asked, surprised.

Grian nodded, and Iskall and Scar shared looks.

"Well, they're created by Evokers." Scar said simply. "It's one of their attacks."

"Evokers?" Grian's head shot up.

"Yes why- oh. Right. The ah... Mansion incident." Scar cleared his throat awkwardly, worried he'd touched a sensitive topic.

Grian was silent for a few odd seconds before saying, "The vexes carry iron swords, so they're ruled out."

"Anyways, what about bats? They've been in the game for a long time, so it's possible!" Iskall said, eager to change the subject.

Scra blinked. "Yes, I considered that, but they have no clear connections or any important history to back them up."

"So nothing." Iskall twiddled his thumbs.

Silence hovered over the room for a few minutes, each hermit think to themself. Finally, Grian spoke.

"Could... Could it be a server-change glitch?"

Scar glanced at his feathered friend. "That is a possibility," he mused. "But when we change seasons, nothing's happened. However, you came from an entirely different world. Evo, right?"

Grian nodded.

"Well, the only person that really knows about that kind of stuff would be Xisuma." Iskall offered. "We should ask him. But honestly, I doubt this is because of a server change."

Grian stood up and stretched. "I guess it's worth a try. Should we head over?"

"Nah, it's a bit late, the sun should set in an hour, so we should try tomorrow." Scar pointed out.

Iskall smoothed down his suit. "Perhaps we could meet at iTrade at noon tomorrow? Then we can head over to Xisuma's."

"Alright, sounds good. I'll be off then!" Grian placed down a boat and left as Iskall turned to Scar.

"Grian probably didn't notice, but I did. You have a hunch, don't you."

Scar took off his hat. "Well yes. I've actually already discussed it with Xisuma, and he thinks it's possible."

Iskall glanced over his shoulder. Grian was already far out of earshot, just a speck in the distance. He looked back at Scar. "Wanna talk about it? Whatever it is, it's an idea nonetheless."

Scar smiled a little. "Alright, let's sit down."

The two men settled back down on the couch.

"So," Scar started, "You've heard of Creative mode, right?"


	21. Chapter 21

"Hey mumbo?"

Mumbo jumped a little, dropping the redstone block he was holding, which set off his new redstone machine and of course, it blew up prematurely.

"Oohhh... Should I come back later?" Grian stood behind the Redstoner awkwardly.

Mumbo laughed a little. "It was still in it's testing phase, so this was bound to happen. What brings you here?" He turned to face the short builder.

"Oh, uh, well I have a hunch on my whole 'Fae' thing, and Iskall, Scar, and I agreed to meet in front of iTrade before going to talk to Xisuma about it. I popped by to drag you along."

Mumbo looked back at his machine. "I mean, I'm no longer in the middle of anything so..."

"Great!" Grian grabbed Mumbo's hand and pretty much dragged him though the nearest nether portal.

_____________________________________

"Grian's a bit late." Scar leaned against the iTrade sign. Noon had set in about ten minutes ago, and he and Iskall were still waiting on Grian.

Iskall tapped his foot. "He's really never late, whatever's keeping him must be important- Oh! Speak of the Devil!"

The 'Devil' in question had hopped through the portal, Mumbo in tow. He gave a cheeky grin. "I guess I do have 'devilish looks', don't I?"

Scar laughed and replied, "I mean, you did just come from actual Hell, so-"

"Don't encourage him Scar!" Iskall said, trying to suppress a laugh.

"You're the one who said he was the Devil!" Scar shot back, chuckling.

Mumbo cleared his throat. "Devil or not, Grian said you guys had a hunch?"

"Right. I guess we head off to find Xisuma." Scar said. "Any idea where he might be?"

____________________________________________

They'd checked his base first, of course, but he wasn't there. Another few hours of looking and they discovered him on the Civil War battlefield, patching up a section of the fence that encompassed the area.

"Hey guys, what bring's y'all here?" Xisuma asked, putting down the last bit of nether bricks.

Scar explained what they'd talked about last night.

"So, pretty much," Grain summed up, "We think it may be because of a server-changing glitch, from when I first came here."

"While that is a possibility, I don't think it's the cause. Server-changing glitches are rare on their own, but the rate for something to this extent is barely perceptible." Xisuma replied quickly. He also gave a knowing glance to Scar, which both Scar and Iskall returned. Mumbo also noticed, glancing back and forth between scar and Xisuma with a bit of confusion on his face.

And Grian, bless his heart, was too distracted by Civil War nostalgia to notice.

"So, uh... If It's not a server change, or a mob, or a block, what could have caused Grian's sudden development?" Mumbo asked, hoping to get an answer that would explain Scar, Iskall, and Xisuma's silent conversation that they seemed to have.

Xisuma found himself in eye-contact with Grian. Scar had made him promise not to bring his theory up around Grian until he was sure it was true.

"I honestly don't know." Xisuma lied. He didn't like lying, but it was a white lie. For Grian's sake. Hopefully.

Grian paced a little, his pointy ears twitching. "While I've been practicing magic, I've come to a bit of a dead end. I can do the magic, sure, but it hasn't revealed anything to me or whatever."

"You've been practicing magic?" Xisuma was a bit surprised at that.

Iskall nodded. "Yeah, how's that been going Grian?"

"Well, I can't do much, but I've figured out a couple handy tricks." Grian snapped his fingers, and suddenly, his horns had sprouted out of his hair. "I've mostly been practicing this spell called 'glamour' where I can make anything on my body, whether it by my clothes or hair, look different to others. I've been using it to hide my horns, because they've grown out some more, and now I can't hide them in my hair. I can also make myself invisible and..."

Mumbo listened to Grian ramble on. He really could talk someone's ear off if he wanted to. Mumbo found himself worrying about Grian's mental health. The poor Faerie had gone through a lot, between the mansion incident and the Atrium incident. And while he had taken a little bit of time to 'mentally' recover from both, he was back to his peppy self rather quickly, and that worried Mumbo. When Grian wasn't being peppy, he was always anxious or paranoid. The other may have not noticed as much as Mumbo, but the mustached man had knew Grian the longest, and could tell something was off.

"-and that about it! So yeah, I'm not very good at any of the spells besides the Glamour one." Grian finished.

Iskall glanced at his watch. "Oh! Is that the time? Sorry guys, I have to go. I've got a meeting in ten minutes."

"Huh. Now that I think about it, I promised to help Cleo with something this afternoon. I should probably do that." Scar mused.

Grain laughed. "Sorry about the rambling, you two should head off. I should start heading home as well."

Mumbo nodded. "Same here. I hope we haven't kept you too long Xisuma."

"Oh it's no problem. Bye!"

A few rockets later, and Mumbo was soaring towards his base.

And as he landed inside, he made a mental note to talk to Grian tomorrow.


	22. Chapter 22

Mumbo took one look at himself in the mirror and cringed. He had redstone dust in his hair and caked in his fingers, and his suit was slightly scorched. He'd spent the morning fixing the machine that blew up yesterday, and ended up having to do more in-depth repairs than usual.

Yeah, he better clean himself up.

An hour later, Mumbo was searching his ender chest for a book and quill. Once he found it, he emptied his inventory and took off his armour, leaving the book, his elytra, and a stack of rockets. Noon had set in, and Mumbo quickly set off, travelling through the nether, al; the way to Hermitville.

_______________________

_Knock, knock, knock_

Grian set down the book and made his way up the plumbing and into his freakishly tall house. He wondered who was at the door, no one really knew about his secret lab, so he assumed no one would try to find him in Hermitville. But apparently, someone was at the door and Grian walked over to answer it.

Before he opened the door, a pang of anxiety creeped through him. What if it was an illager? Or worse?

He pushed the thoughts down as he opened the door to see...

"Mumbo? What brings you here?"

The redstoner simply had an elytra and a book and quill, no armour or redstone tools, or whatever. He gave Grian a measured look, and Grian could see clear worry in the gentleman's eyes.

"Grian, may I talk to you for a bit?"

Grian was a bit surprised, but nodded, letting mumbo in. The two sat down on a couple shulker boxes and Mumbo pulled out the book and quill and flipped to the first page, and seemed to read from it.

"Grian, I know you've been through a lot. And yet, you seem to have mentally recovered from it quite quickly. I've known you for years, and I don't believe that you're okay. I think you need to talk about it. That is, if you want to. But seriously," he glanced up and met Grian's eyes, "you should talk. But I'm not going to pressure you."

Grian laughed a little, but it came out weary. He dropped the act all at once. It was true-he wasn't all okay. He thought he'd hidden it well, no one want to see a broken person after all. But Mumbo had noticed, and Grian decided that yes, he'd try talking it out. He trusted Mumbo.

"Alright, I'll talk. You're right, I've been pretending I'm fine when I'm not."

Mumbo listened as Grian began to let his feeling spill over.

"Being honest, I constantly feel worried that I'll end up back in the mansion. I can't even look at a pillager without having flashbacks! and I push myself to work on magic, even though it terrifies me-"

"Deep breaths Grian." Mumbo interrupted, putting a hand on Grian's shoulder. Grian gave a nod and continued, more slowly.

"It feels like, like it's raining but I don't have a coat. And I'm standing under someone else's umbrella, but I know they're going to leave soon, and I'll-I'll be stranded in the rain, so I'm trying to c-come up with small talk to stall them, b-but I'm running out of w-words." Grain felt himself begin to stutter a little, the emotions spilling out of him as he tried to convey his worries.

Mumbo wrote down thing as Grian talked. "Who do you think the person with the umbrella symbolizes?" He asked.

"Um... well I don't know."

"Exactly." Mumbo said. "Nobody's going to leave you stranded in the rain. You're safe."

Mumbo had a point. Grian swung his feet a little. 

"Maybe the person with the umbrella is you." Mumbo suggested. "Maybe you're scared of what you're going to discover about yourself, so you're holding onto how you were before all this."

By gosh, he was right! Grian kinda froze. "I'm scared of the transition." He said quietly. "I'm scared of losing myself to this change."

Mumbo nodded and wrote something down before closing the book and quill. "Grian, what you're experiencing are side effects of trauma."

"Trauma?" Grian asked.

"Yes. Joe, Scar, and I discussed this while you were in Area 77." Mumbo explained. "You're feeling anxious and disconnected. You're still in a bit of denial as well." 

Grian wasn't sure what to say. It made sense. But then, the now familiar worry set in. It filled his head with what if's: What if he never recovered fully? What if he felt anxious forever? What if he lost himself to the trauma and-

______________________________

"Grian?" Mumbo's voice was laced with worry. The small hermit had begun to shake a little, and seemed to curl up into himself, muttering what ifs and worries.

Mumbo began to panic slightly, what was he supposed to do? He wasn't sure what course of action to take to comfort his friend. He knelt down next to the shulker Grian was sitting and and began to whisper soothing words, realizing what was happening. Grian was having a panic attack. And from the look of it, it was getting worse. Grian began to mutter broken phrases, and Mumbo tried to comfort him.

Thorny, black roots began to sprout through the floorboards around Grian's feet.

_______________________________

Grian was panicking, anxiety completely taking over his mind. He covered his face, and suddenly he was back in the mansion. He began to mutter nonsense, trying to block everything out. He began to feel overwhelmed, everything was too loud, even though it was quiet in Hermitville, it was too loud, too hot, far too hot, far too cramped-

Someone was whispering words, words he didn't-no couldn't-comprehend. But all at once, it was too much. It was too much. Too loud. Too hot. Too-

________________________________

A strangled cry escaped Grian mouth, and everything seemed to still. Mumbo saw frost spread over the walls as the thorns around Grian's feet spread across the floor, wrapping around chests and shulkers.

A weird hot feeling began twitching at Mumbo's fingers. The redstoner glanced down and saw that his fingers were edged in purple. He only had time to mutter "that's not normal" before passing out cold.

-

-

-


	23. Chapter 23

Iskall shivered as he walked through Hermitville. Was it always this chilly here? He approached Sahara Street, frowning as the chill seemed to increase. He was just passing Grian's house when he heard it. It was a strange sound, almost like someone was crumpling up paper.

He paused, and glanced at Grian's house. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, aside from the weird chill. He shrugged it off. It was late evening, no need to worry. The cold was probably a bug in the system.

Iskall walked down the street to his own house and entered, quickly finding what he was looking for. It was just a couple emerald blocks, but he needed a backup set of armour. He wondered if he should sleep first before heading to iTrade. Well, he slept last night, so he's in no danger of phantoms.

He passed Grian's house on his way out, and paused again. This time, he saw what looked to be the source of the noise. Some strange black roots were creeping through the wood near the base of Grian's door.

Iskall reached his hand out to open the door, but stopped. He could hear fain sobbing from inside. Iskall froze and listened closer.

The crying sounded ragged, as if the person inside had been weeping for hours. Iskall felt a pang of worry go up his spine. Was that Grian? Is he okay? What could've happened? Iskall quietly pushed open the door.

Frost covered the walls, and thorny roots seemed to overgrow, latching onto every chest and shulker in the room. Sitting with his back facing Iskall, was Grian. His shoulders shook with every sob. And lying in front of him was a very familiar redstoner.

_____________________________

Doc did not like his sleep to be interrupted.

So when someone broke his bed, yanking him out of his dreamless sleep, of course he was cranky.

"Dude why? M'trying to sleep!" He grumbled.

"It's an emergency Doc!"

Doc rubbed the sleep out of his one working eye and glanced up to see a very worried Iskall. "This better be one." He muttered, standing up.

Iskall grabbed his wrist and ran out of Area 77, Doc clumsily stumbling behind. Iskall finally stopped at the Sahara street sign. He pointed at Grian's house. "Just... Just do your thing. I'm gonna grab Scar." Iskall began to run towards the town's nether portal, leaving Doc with no explanation.

Doc sighed, clearly annoyed. The one time he slept in Area 77. Of course.

He shook his head and opened the door into Grian's house.

_____________________________________

Joe stumbled out of the Hermitville portal, running to Area 77. He was met with a very distraught Iskall.

"What happened? I heard there was an incident-"

"I wish I knew." Iskall replied. "As soon as Scar got to Area 77, he told me to wait outside."

Joe sat down next to Iskall. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. The other Hermits would wake up about now, unaware of what happened.

Another hour passed, and finally, Scar walked outside.

The two hermits perked up, hoping for good news.

"Mumbo is still unconscious, but we have his vitals stable for now. We can't say if he's getting better or not yet." Scar said, taking off his hat.

"And Grian?" Iskall asked.

Scar was quiet, choosing his words carefully. "He's with Mumbo. But he's not doing to well emotionally."

Iskall sighed, sitting back down.

"But Doc found this with Mumbo." Scar added, holding up a book and quill. He handed it to Joe. 

Joe opened it. "It looks like therapist notes. About Grian."

"So that's why Mumbo was there. But what happened?" Iskall wondered.

Scar sat down next to Iskall. "I guess you'll have to ask Grian. Doc's not allowing any visitors at the moment, and I agree with his decision. You two should head off, I'll inform you if anything happens."

_________________________________

Grian was still shaking. He'd actually hurt someone. He'd hurt Mumbo.

And now, looking at his unconscious friend, guilt surged through him. Mumbo was very pale, and was hooked up to a couple machines to measure his vitals. His fingers were tinged purple as well. In short, he looked terrible.

And it was Grian's fault.

"Please Mumbo..." He muttered hoarsely. "Please, wake up..."


	24. Chapter 24

Mumbo was falling. He wasn't sure where or how, but he was falling. It felt as if someone had tossed him off a cliff; one moment he's fine, but the next, he's lost grasp of anything and everything to indicate reality. His mind whirled. How long until he'd land? The void should've begun to kill him by now, right?

His eyes snapped open, but it felt like slow motion as he took in the blackness around him. He felt like he was in The End, but there was nothing around him.

Then gravity seemed to stop altogether.

Weightlessness is a funny feeling. It feels like you're floating in water, but without the sensation of water on your skin. It feels like any tiny movement could send you flying in a random direction, like your movements are hypersensitive. Mumbo wondered why in books, it was always portrayed as being on a roller-coaster, or free-falling. It felt like he was asleep, like he was lucid dreaming, but without the dream.

Mumbo blinked. He was _dreaming._

Hermitville. The black roots. The frost.

_Grian._

Mumbo felt a moment of panic, his brain finally registering the absence of gravity. His arms flailed, his body wanting control. Wanting a grasp onto anything solid. Anything real.

And then he woke.

But nothing changed. He was paralyzed, unable to speak or move. He could feel the mattress under him, could feel the IV pricking his skin, but it all felt slightly numb, like his entire body was still asleep.

He thought it might've been sleep paralysis, but he could breathe fine. He tried to open his eyes, but it felt like he was lifting deadweight.

But at least he could hear.

Someone was on his left, sniffling. He heard a hoarse voice come from them, one he barely recognized.

"I'm so sorry. Please wake up. _Please._ "

He wanted to call out, say he was awake, but he couldn't make his mouth move.

So he lied there, listening to Grian.

It felt like an eternity. After a while, Grian was silent, but Mumbo could still hear his shaky breaths.

Eventually, Doc spoke. "Grian. You should go home."

"B-but-"

"No buts. You've been up all night, and Mumbo isn't getting any better."

He could hear Grian stand up. "Doc, is there anything I can do? Any ingredients you need for healing potions?"

 _Grian's desperate to help. He's guilty, and this is how he expresses it._ Mumbo thought.

"No, there's nothing else I can do but monitor Mumbo's condition. I don't know anything about this disease, since it's pure magic."

It was silent for a few seconds.

"You're right. It's magic." Grian's tone changed, sounding more firm. "So there must be a cure."

Mumbo felt a hand rest on his, one he assumed was Grian's.

"Mumbo, It's my fault you're like this." His voice sounded determined now. "I'm going to find a cure, _I promise._ "

_______________________________________

Ren glanced up at the sound of wingbeats.

Grian was hovering in the sky above him, holding an old book under his arm. The hermit looked like he'd been crying for hours; his eyes were red and puffy. The flower crown on his head had wilted, and he had dragon-like horns sprouting out of his unkempt hair.

"I need to speak with Renbob."


	25. Chapter 25

Rendog looked into the mirror and put on the last part of the ensemble: the flower crown.

He felt the change happen, almost like he'd taken off a jacket he'd worn for hours. He was Renbob.

Alternate personas was an interesting skill that not many Hermits had. An alternate persona was like a clone of you that shared your body, a clone with different tastes. Some personas were so similar to the original that no clothing change was needed to channel them. Others took up to an hours worth of concentration to channel.

Some, like Grian, had a lot. And others, like Joe, had none. For many, their personas changed every season, like a haircut. Scar and Stress were among those.

As for Ren, channeling Renbob was relatively easy, just a quick costume change was all.

"Well diggity dang." He said to himself. "Another Hippie needs my help!"

And he made his way back to where Grian was.

____________________________

Grian watched as Rendog went in, and Renbob stepped out.

"Alright bro, what do ya need?"

Grian stifled a smile. He hadn't seen his hippie friend for almost a year. "Good to see you, Renbob. I need help making a potion."

"Wouldn't you go to Doc or Cub for that? Or maybe even Scar?"

"I would, but it's not their knowledge I need. It's yours. Out of everyone and their alternate personas on the server, you know the most about plants."

Renbob shrugged. "Alright dude. What're ya tryin to make? And why?"

"Well, uh..." Grian remembered why he was there. What he'd done. "I need to create a cure. For something I created."

Ren gave him a quizzical look, but didn't question. "Well, where do you want to start?"

_________________________________

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Do you think he'll even wake up?"

"No. His condition's been getting worse."

"But if he dies, he'll be cured, right? He'll respawn, like nothing ever happened."

"Again, no. This is magic we're talking about. Remember how Grian's magic wounds stayed even after respawning?"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"...I see. It's really that serious?"

"Yes, Scar, It's that serious."

"How much time do you think he has?"

Mumbo listened to the silence, only broken by the the beeping of the heart monitor Doc had hooked him up to a few minutes ago. Scar had came in, and he and Doc had been discussing Mumbo's condition.

Doc answered, deadpan and serious. "At most? He's got a week."

_One week until perma-death._

_One week to break out of this._

_One week._

________________________________

Grian sighed, flipping through the book, looking for anything. The first step to fixing this, was to find out what exactly he was fixing.

So while Ren was collecting every herb imaginable, Grian sat cross legged in his camper, trying to find a diagnosis.

"Curse of the Sinking Stone, Curse of the Monstrous, Curse of Anonymity, of a Broken Heart, of the Diminished, of the Hunted..." He mumbled to himself, flipping to page after page.

"Curse of Eternal Sleep? That sounds like it..." He said to nobody in particular. Maybe he was onto something? No. No he wasn't.

That was clear when he read the description, along with how it was cast.

Eventually, Renbob poked his head in. "Found anything yet, Dawg?"

Grian shook his head as an answer, not even looking up from the book. There were hundreds of curses in the book, and a hundred variations of each. He found himself enveloped in the runes, searching and searching.

One strange thing stood out to him. Many of the spells were either marked as "Seelie" or "Unseelie". He wondered what that meant. And some of those spells were marked with a season. He noticed that the more light-hearted curses were marked with the Seelie mark, and vice versa.

As he read, he noticed that pattern more clearly.

Seelie curses had far less of an ill-intent that Unseelie curses. Unseelie curses were more cruel.

Seelie seemed to have two sub-groups: Spring and Summer. Unseelie had Autumn and Winter.

And as he read more, Grian wondered what Seelie/Unseelie meant.

Many curses flitted before his eyes, only a quick scan before the page was flipped. Fae terms danced in his head, the runes seeming to slide off the page. 

....He needed to take a break.

He placed in a bookmark before closing the book with a loud snap, making Ren jump.

"Dude, ya scared me!"

"Sorry." Grian mumbled, standing up. He stretched his arms above his head, his wings spreading out as if on instinct. One smacked Ren in the face.

"Ow!"

"Again, sorry." Grian apologized.

Ren laughed. "It's cool. Anyways, I've got pretty much every herb I could find sitting on a table outside. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Unfortunately, no." Grian sighed. "I was getting a headache so I'm taking a break."

Grian decided he was going to visit Mumbo, Area 77 was a short walk away.

He could've flown there, his wings had fully healed, but he'd made himself a promise. Until Mumbo was up on his feet again, Grian would not take to the sky.

______________________________

Xisuma paced, Scar, Joe, and Iskall sitting on a couple chests nearby. Iskall and Scar had just updated him on what happened.

"It's just like the accident with the Atrium." Iskall noted.

Joe tapped his chin. "I swear I've seen those black roots before, but not in the Atrium."

"You have?" Scar asked.

Joe was quiet, thinking.

"Oh yeah, back during the rescue mission, when he and I were stuck in the tunnels waiting for Cleo." He finally answered.

"So what connects these three events?" Xisuma wondered out loud.

Iskall blinked. "Isn't it obvious?"

The other three Hermits looked at him as he answered.

_"He was unhappy."_


	26. Chapter 26

Grian paused on the page and called over Doc. "I think I've found it."

Doc walked over and glanced over Grian's shoulder. He frowned. "Well, what does it say? I'm German, not Runeish."

"O-oh, right." Grian felt his cheeks go a little red, but read the page out loud.

"Faerie Stroke; Unseelie - Autumn. Casting: Usually tied to strong emotions, exact spell unknown. Symptoms: Purple fingers and/or toes, difficulty breathing, slowed heartbeat."

"Those symptoms match." Doc noted.

Grian continued. "The Faerie Stroke is an ailment that paralyzes the victim, depriving them of speech and/or movement. Can result in a coma-like state, during which the magic will slowly take over the body, draining it of its life." He shuddered.

"So, any cures?" Doc asked.

Grian quickly skimmed down the page. "Cures: Confirmed cure unknown, however, some herbs like foxglove and water lily have been used to slow down the process. Plants with magical properties, such as Chorus Fruit, have a small history of being brewed into a possible cure, however the resulting potion did not have a high-enough magic concentration to work. More experiments needed."

Grain closed the book. "Well, I guess I better start experimenting." He sighed. Doc nodded and went back to work.

__________________________________

"So ya need a potion with high magical properties, but it has to be plant-based?" Renbob clarified.

Grian nodded. "Yes. I know Chorus Fruit, Water Lily, and Foxglove are a good base."

Ren picked up two different kinds of flowers. One was a single, wide flower with white and pink coloring that was connected to a lilypad. The other was a more magenta color with darker freckles inside the mouth of the flowers, which were bunched up in a similar way to lavender. "The white flower is Water Lily, and the Magenta is Foxglove." Ren said, handing them to Grian. 

"It looks like Perennials are the way to go, according to your research. Perhaps a herbaceous type?" Ren mused. "We could probably put some petunias in the mix, along with a couple types of fern and mint. Catnip would be a good idea, it's known for cat sorcery and is believed to have magical properties as well. We could probably borrow some from Scar, I know he has a small garden." Ren behan thumbling through the other plants he'd gathered. "Plantaginaceae is going to be a smart pick, maybe the subtype Bogueria? No, Littorella is better, it's connected to Water Lily..."

Grian didn't question Ren as he placed different plants into Grian's arms. Grian also had no clue what most of the terms meant, but after a subtle channel of Hippie Grian, he got a vague idea. Renbob was talking about plant families and histories. Even Hippie Grian was a bit confused, but again, Grian didn't question Ren.

"Alright, that should be enough. One of us should run over to Scar's and borrow some catnip, and that'll be all we need." Ren set up another table and Grian set down his armload of plants down on it. "I can grab the catnip, if you want to set up a brewing stand and cauldron." Ren offered.

"Sounds good." Grian said, walking over to his own camper. He knew he had a brewing stand in one of the stray shulkers, so that was easy to get. When he exited the camper, Ren had a;ready left.

And Grian realized he couldn't set up the cauldron, because he was allergic to iron. He sighed and placed down the brewing stand before heading to Hermitville to ask for a hand.

__________________________

In another server, a man stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down into the void. A slightly shorter man stood next to him.

"It's beautiful, is it not?" the taller man asked, staring into the abyss. "Looking into a sentient chasm, one ready to kill." He let out a raspy laugh. "Of course, everyone believes it has no end, but no one truly knows what's down there."

"If you fell in, no one would hear you scream." The shorter man said, cocking his head a little.

The taller man gave him a crooked smile. "Exactly. Even with an Elytra, there's no escape. No amount of rockets could free you from it's grasp."

"What about wings?"

"Hmm?"

"What about wings?" The shorter man repeated. "If you fell in, you'd be able to escape, right?"

The taller man shook his head. "Perhaps barely. But if even one wing was damaged, game over."

"Wow." The shorter man breathed. "It's that powerful?"

The taller man nodded. "Indeed. But that's enough gawking for today. We have work to do." He handed the shorter man an object. "We still have to figure out how to hack ourselves into the whitelist."

The shorter man grinned as he donned the object. "I'll be going then."

The taller nodded. "I expect a lot of progress by tomorrow."

The shorter man jumped back through the end portal, the rabbit ears flopping in the breeze.


	27. Chapter 27

A few days went by, Grian and Ren trying every possible combination they could. They even started putting ground lapis in the potions, after asking Scar if it was edible (which funny enough, as long as you only have a small quantity, it is) of course.

The lapis definitely helped, but it wasn't quite enough.

As of now, they had only a couple days left. Mumbo's heartbeat had gotten concerningly slow, and Grian was getting desperate.

He sat down with the book, glaring at it. "Why couldn't you be helpful?" He mumbled. He was waiting on another brew, one that would take longer than he wanted. He had nothing else to do but search though the book again.

It was two in the morning. Grian rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He'd been pulling all-nighters in hopes of creating a cure. He thought he was doing fine, but threw that thought out the winder when, of course, the book started to speak.

"Hello!"

At first, Grian glared at it, and walked away muttering "Not today, I am NOT going insane."

Then when the brew he'd just made turned out to be useless, he stalked back to the book.

"Alright, I'm talking to a book. What do you want?" He muttered, not sure whether to be scared or irritated, or hopeful.

"I'm not a book, silly!"

"I'm sorry, w h a t?"

"I'm not a book! Or well, I wasn't always a book."

Grian stared at the book.

"You... You're a spirit trapped in the book aren't you?"

"You betcha!"

Grian groaned. "What else is new?"

"You know, it's not good to go too long without sleep, phantoms and all that." The book spoke.

Grian sighed. "And it can make you hallucinate."

"You think I'm a hallucination?" The book sounded mildly offended.

"Well," Grian set the book down, "It's two in the morning and I'm talking to a book."

"...Fair point."

Grian stood up to make a new potion. "By any chance, do you know the cure for the Faerie Stroke?" He asked. It was worth a shot.

"I'll tell you if you help me!"

"Never mind, forget I asked-"

"Fine, fine! I'll help you first, and then you help me. Deal?"

Grian hesitated. He knew that he shouldn't trust the book, but he was desperate. He suddenly understood why protagonists always looked for advice in clearly evil sources.

"Fine." He sighed and turned back to the book. "But you promise that when I help you, it won't change the server or its inhabitants in any way, right?"

The book chuckled. "Of course!"

Grian knew he was getting into something bad, something sinister. He wasn't an idiot. But Mumbo was dying, and the book was offering a cure.

"Alright Booky. What's the recipe?"

________________________________

Mumbo hated the fact that he'd completely lost his sense of touch. Now, the only thing connecting him to reality was the faint beeping of the machine he was hooked up to and the quiet hum of Doc's metal parts.

Mumbo fought to stay awake, scared that if he fell asleep, he wouldn't wake up.

_Knock Knock_

"Hm?" Mumbo heard Doc stand up and walk over to the door. "Oh, Grian."

"I have it!" Grian sounded out of breath. Mumbo heard the clank, sounding like glass hitting metal. From the context clues, Mumbo understood that Grian had shoved a potion into Doc's arms. "It needs to be administered into the bloodstream, that's all you."

Mumbo heard Grian run over to to bed he was lying on. "Hurry! We don't have much time Doc!"

"Okay! Okay! I've got it."

Mumbo felt something warm enter his arm, spreading out through his body. Tingles began running up and down his limbs, and suddenly Mumbo could feel again. The lingering cold seemed to wash away, and he heard the beeping get faster.

"Please work! Please work! Please work!" Grian was saying.

Mumbo tried to move his fingers. They twitched ever so slightly.

"Mumbo, if you can hear me, try to open your eyes." Doc's voice was calm, but Mumbo could hear the undertones of hope.

And he obliged, slowly blinking open his eyes. Everything was so bright, too bright. His eyes began to work, and he saw Grian and Doc standing over him. Mumbo opened his mouth trying to speak. His throat was dry, but he managed to croak out one sentence.

."Grian, don't you _dare_ blame yourself."

Grian began to laugh-cry and hugged Mumbo. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, I;ve been pulling all-nighters trying to make a cure and I don't know what unseelie or seelie means and-"

Mumbo managed a smile, his muscles slowly coming back to life. He wished he could return the hug, but his arms still felt like spaghetti noodles

Doc was standing off to the side, also smiling. "Glad to have you back, you spoon."


	28. Chapter 28

The first thing Mumbo did after he was discharged was force Grian to sleep. The poor Faerie had pulled nine all-nighters, and had twenty phantoms after him.

The next thing Mumbo did was help Ren clean up the makeshift brewery.

"So you finally got Grian to sleep, huh?" Rendog asked. Once the Cure was created, Ren had gone back to his former self. "I'd say he needed it. He was talking to himself the morning the cure was made."

Mumbo frowned. "Talking to himself?"

"Well, yeah. Technically, he was talking to the book, but the book's an inanimate object so..."

"Can I see the book?"

"Yeah it's in his camper."

Mumbo walked over to the camper and retrieved the book. It was definitely inanimate, but he had an overwhelming feeling that he should take it back to his own base. Mumbo resisted it, and put the book back. He had a gut feeling that he was doing something wrong, but he decided it's best not to meddle in things he doesn't understand.

_______________________________

Grian lied on his bed. Mumbo had been discharged last night, nad practically forced Grian to sleep once he found out about the all-nighters.

He remembered what Mumbo had said as soon as he could talk. Those words had sent a pang of relief through him. Mumbo wasn't mad at him at all.

But he'd hurt someone nonetheless.

Grian sighed and sat up. He had a promise to keep.

________________________________

Being a book was annoying, the hours of just doing nothing were starting to get to him.

But this was his best bet.

To be fair, the nickname "Booky" had stuck. It was kinda stupid, but kinda funny at the same time. Booky grinned, though he had no mouth.

Of course, when the guy with the mustache had picked him up, he panicked a little, worried he'd been found out. But he kept his cool. He waited and waited, knowing the faerie would show up soon. It was a simple task he needed done. Of course, Grian wasn't an idiot, but he had been desperate, and from what information Booky had gathered, Hermits always kept their promises.

And it wasn't long before Grian sat down and asked Booky what he needed.

Booky chose his words carefully. "I just need ya to toss out a couple of feathers for me. In a specific place!"

"Okay... Where?"

Booky hesitated, this was the important part.

"There's a secret area, I call it the console island. All servers have them. Only accessible by the Admin."

"Okay?"

Booky continued. "I just need you to get up there, find the rift between servers, and toss a couple of your feathers in. That's it!"

"Alright, I'll go get Xisuma-"

"NO!" Booky snapped.

_Crap._

"Why not?" Grian sounded quite suspicious.

"Uh... That doesn't concern you."

"So how do I get there then?"

"You gotta steal Xisuma's communicator. Then you can teleport yourself there."

Booky prayed Grian would accept the task.

"That's it, right? It won't hurt anyone on the server?"

"This simple little action won't hurt a soul." Booky promised. And he wasn't lying either.

Grian sighed. "Alright. Guess I'll have to wait until Xisuma sleeps, so it could either be done tonight or late next week, depending on when Xisuma decides to go to bed."

"I can wait, but a promise is a promise!" Booky reminded Grian cheerfully.

_Yes! Might take a bit of waiting, but it's practically done._

Booky went mute again, eagerly waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I've finally cross-posted this from Wattpad! This is usually updated daily (there might be no chapter tomorrow btw) and there might be a sequel.
> 
> Feel free to theorize in the comments! I love reading people's reactions to my chapters :3


	29. Chapter 29

Iskall paced in Scar's living room, trying to put all the clues together. They had all the puzzle pieces, but they had no clue how to start.

Scar was sitting on his couch, and Xisuma was leaning against the wall.

"So, uh... I'm gonna read off the clues we have." Scar cleared his throat and read from the book he was holding. "First, we know he's always been a Fae, but something sparked the physical changes."

"Second, the glitches he's experienced have turned out not to be glitches."

Xisuma nodded. "I checked my bug-fix history, and from what it looks like, all the 'glitches' that have happened to Grian have fixed themselves."

"Third, we have the more interesting bit. The connections to Creative mode." Scar closed the book and tapped his fingers on his knee. "There's of course the flying. That's easily connected to Creative mode."

"Along with the glamour." Xisuma pointed out. "Those in creative mode, and sometimes high-ranking admins can access commands that can change their appearance, and even once called 'vanish' that turns them invisible."

Scar hummed in response. "Also, those in Creative mode have immortality, and Fae in legends have been portrayed as half-immortal, or at least, they live longer than any player, and don't age very quickly."

"It is possible for one in Creative mode to die, but the circumstances have to be just right. And even then, thy'll respawn." Xisuma said.

"Really?" Iskall asked. "How?"

Xisuma answered simply. "By falling out of the world."

"You mean into the void?" Iskall frowned. "Isn't it easy for someone in Creative to just... Fly out? Some End islands are at a pretty low altitude."

"Not exactly." Xisuma sighed. "Firstly, it's possible to die in that way in the overworld."

"But what about the Bedrock layer?" Iskall stopped pacing.

"Creative mode users can break bedrock, and underneath the layer is the same void as you'd find in the End." Xisuma explained. "And second, once you fall far enough into the void, it takes a hold of you and drags you down. While it's certainly possible to escape by flying, the Void isn't as inanimate as you'd think. It knows how to kill just about anything."

Scar shivered. "It's that powerful?"

"Maybe. No one's completely sure." Xisuma glanced at Scar. "Anyways, we're getting off track. We were talking about connections between Fae and Creative Mode, yes?"

"Uh yeah." Scar opened the book again. "There's also the whole plants thing. The Fae in legends were able to grow plants with little to no bone meal."

"I mean, when Grian was a Hippie, his gardens and farms were always prospering." Iskall pointed out.

"So what we have so far is the idea that Fae is connected to Creative mode." Xisuma pulled out his communicator. "Now we need to figure out why and how." He pulled up the server player list and read over Grian's information again.

"He's still listed as a Player in Survival Mode." Xisuma scrolled down. "....Scratch that." He paused and reloaded the page. "That's strange."

"What? Did something change?" Scar shot up from the couch.

Xisuma nodded. "He's still listed as a player, but now he's in Adventure mode."

"Adventure mode?" Iskall cocked his head.

"Yeah, it's like a weird mix of Spectator and Survival." Xisuma frowned. "Although, from what it looks, he has a full range of breaking and placing blocks which is odd." Xisuma dove deeper into the information, a confused look on his face. "The only thing that classifies him as Adventure Mode is his spawnpoint and a command I certainly didn't put in."

"Elaborate."

Xisuma nodded and closed the screens down. "As you know, you can change your spawnpoint by sleeping. In Adventure mode, even if you sleep, you will continue to spawn wherever world spawn is."

"And the command?" Scar asked curiously.

"It's a Keep Inventory command. It allows a player to keep all the stuff in their inventory even after they die. It says the entered command was a result of the sudden mode change."

"Oh." Iskall exchanged looks with Xisuma and Scar.

Scar then paused. "Hey wait. Xisuma, it's possible to enter Admin commands unconsciously, right?"

"Very small ones, yes." Xisuma nodded.

"Well, what if Grian's magic is tied to that. Like, casting Dolphin's grace in himself as an example. All his magic can be translated into console commands, right?"

"I mean, console commands are technically a fancy way of saying 'magic that admins can use' so, that makes sense."

"And if Grian's magic is tied to his emotions..." Iskall felt the pieces begin to click in place.

Scar nodded. "If Grian was about to die, and he was scared of losing his stuff, he could've unconsciously cast the Keep Inventory command on himself."

"Which means he probably changed his mode on accident in the process. But that means..." Xisuma trailed off.

Iskall finished his sentence. "Grian can access Creative mode."

It began to make sense. From what they gathered, Grian could easily change console commands and modes, in a more psychic way. That correlated with the idea that Fae were connected to Creative mode. Fae magic was literal magic. Fae were Players that had console magic at their fingertips, as if they could change the code of the world itself."

"There's also the curses that Grian mentioned were in that book of his. I think it's possible that those were new potion effects were created by messing with the code." Scar pointed out. "The Faerie Stroke for example, is basically a super slow wither effect, but it directly attacks the player's actual life essence."

"So we know why. We just need to figure out how." Xisuma nodded. "Sounds like some all nighters. The best way to figure this out is to look through the Admin Change Log, and that could take days on end." He glanced at the Hermits in front of him. "I'll need your help."

Iskall grinned. "Well, is we're really gonna have sleepless nights, then we'll need a well-lit bunker to protect against Phantoms. We all slept last night, right?"

Scar and Xisuma nodded.

"I'll build the bunker, you two can get started on the search." Scar rolled up his sleeves. "I'll have it done before sundown."


	30. Chapter 30

Joe set down his book as someone knocked on his door. He walked over to answer it.

"Oh! You must be here for our first session!" Joe nodded to Grian. Shortly after Mumbo had been discharged, the mustached man had suggested therapy for Grian. Joe had agreed, and it seems Mumbo had been able to convince the small hermit.

Grian smiled nervously. "Y-yeah."

"Well, come on in!"

__________________________________

"That's... a lot of wood..." Mumbo speculated. He'd bumped into Scar in the shopping district on his way to check Sahara.

Scar laughed. "Yeah, I need to get an underground bunker done before the sun sets. It's for a project between me, Iskall, and Xisuma."

"Really?" Mumbo asked, curious.

Scar nodded. "Want to give me a hand?"

"No thanks, after I check Sahara I've got an errand to run over in Hermitville." Mumbo answered.

"Alright, see ya tomorrow. Maybe. I dunno."

___________________________________

It was quiet in the hippie commune. Mumbo quietly climbed into Grian's camper and retrieved the book. He climbed back out and sat cross-crossed on the ground.

He gave the book a long, measured stare. Something just... Didn't feel right.

"Can you talk?" It was a dumb question. Mumbo sighed, knowing he wouldn't get an answer.

The minutes ticked by as the sun began to set. Mumbo was just about to put the book back when he noticed something hard and smooth pressed into the back of the book. He flipped it over and to his surprise, he found a strange crystal. It was a light brown, with red and white speckles littered throughout the core.

It almost reminded him of a command block, a block reserved for admins and creative mode users. He'd seen Xisuma use them before. Before every season, Xisuma would set up a couple to regulate the rain and make sure they didn't get a harcore world by chance. He'd also use one to set the world-spawn, just incase it happened to be in a bad spot.

This crystal gave off the same vibes, but in a strange way. He could feel it gently vibrate under his fingers. As he inspected it, he found a tiny bit of code inscripted on it's side.

Mumbo recognized the numbers immediately. They were the same numbers Iskall had mentioned when fixing Sahara after the release of beta. This code was a hacking code, one that could surpass any barrier.

And the crystal certainly wasn't from this server. Mumbo realized it was some kind of mod, a forbidden practice of magic that directly messed with the world's code. The difference between a mod and admin magic was that mods would tear through the code, causing lag and other issues. Of course, some mods were okay, but they were still frowned upon.

Mumbo pursed his lips and walked over to area 77 to ask Doc to test the crystal.

_______________________

"And here it is!" Scar led Iskall and Xisuma down the stairs and into the bunker. It was simple, with some pillows scattered across the floor and a couple blankets. A small chandelier with glowstone hung from the ceiling, illuminating the dark oak walls that were peppered with birch accents, creating a surprisingly nice contrast. Jellie was curled up in a corner, watching them with squinty eyes.

Iskall glanced around. "Wow, this is really nice."

"It's nothing." Scar said making himself comfortable on a couple cushions, Jellie cuddling up to him. 

"So, I guess we get to work." Xisuma nodded as he set down a shulker box. "There's a couple computers in here, since the Admin log is so long. We'll have to split it up." He pulled a couple out and unlocked them, handing them to Iskall and Scar. "This'll be a lot of boring work, but it's our best bet."


	31. Chapter 31

"So, how have you been, Grian?" Joe asked, starting off simple. He wasn't an actual therapist, but out of everyone on the server, he was the closest.

Grian fidgeted a little. "Um... I'm doing alright, I guess."

"Be honest Grian, the first step of therapy is identifying the underlying side-effects and finding possible solutions." Joe's voice was calm and reassuring. "Don't be afraid to spill your feelings, okay?"

Grian nodded. "Well, I um..." He shivered a little. "I've got a lot of anxiety, and I'm just... Really paranoid. I've also had trouble sleeping, and I'm still worried I'll hurt someone on accident, y'know, after what happened with Ari a-and Mumbo."

"Let's start with your sleeping problems." Joe frowned a little, thinking. "Those stem from your anxiety, yes?"

"I think so."

"It might be because of where you're sleeping. Back in the mansion, you slept alone and only with your thoughts. ou were vulnerable, and so that connected sleeping with your trauma." Joe met his eyes. "Perhaps you need to sleep near someone else for a while so your brain can reconnect sleeping with safety."

"So you're saying I should temporarily move in with someone else?"

Joe nodded. "I'd recommend Xisuma, since you'd feel the most safe with him, he is the admin after all."

Grian's mind flashed back to his promise with Booky. A pang of anxiety whisked through him, but he pushed it away. Booky or no Booky, Joe was right. He'd feel the safest with the Admin.

"Alright. I'll go talk to him later." Grian answered, nodding.

Joe smiled. "Good. The next thing would be that you worry about your 'outbursts', right? In this case, you need to remember the reason your magic took over. In both the scenario with the Atrium and the one in Hermitville, you were feeling threatened, whether it was by someone else, or your own anxiety."

"So, those incidents were because my brain was trying to protect me?" Grian asked.

Joe nodded. "Over time, you'll naturally figure out how to control your emotions again, but until then, be mindful of your surroundings, and if you see something that could set you off, or make you feel threatened, or if you feel a panic attack coming on, don't hesitate to take a break."

"That's a bit of a relief." Grian smiled.

"And the last bit is your anxiety and your paranoia." Joe stood up and gestured for Grian to do the same. "Before we address those, let's take a walk."

______________________________

Grian glanced around at all the shops. The shopping district looked much bigger from the ground, and Grian cracked a smile as he spotted his travelling cart. He'd have to restock it sometime. He and Joe had walked around pretty much the entire island by then. It was calming, to say the least.

Joe led him over to the stock exchange and equipped his own Elytra, pulling out a couple rockets. Grian readied his own wings and the two flew up, landing safely on the starting platform for Grian's Elytra Course.

Grian looked over the large expanse of markets and buildings.

"What a view, hm?" Joe sat down next to him, dangling his feet over the side of the platform. "Say Grian, how are you feeling. Like, right now?"

Grian blinked. "I feel... I feel fine. Like, for real this time."

Joe smiled. "Anxiety is only prominent if you let it be. You can't push it away, but you can find healthy distractions, such as taking a walk, or finding something to look forward to. As long as you take some time to say 'I am here, and I am okay', you'll find yourself happier."

"That's... Some good advice!" Grian felt a genuine smile creep onto his face.

"And as for the paranoia, well, that's tied to your anxiety. Just remember, you are safe right now. Nothing's going to change that." Joe patted Grian on the shoulder. "And that's about it for today."

"Really?" Grian perked up.

Joe nodded. "Want to meet again next week?"

Grian nodded, grinning.

Joe laughed warmly. "That's the spirit. Now, how about you try out your Elytra course? I know how much you love flying, and no-one's really seen your new wings in action."

Grian gave an enthusiastic nod, unfurled his wings, and fell off the platform backwards. "Thanks Joe!" he called as he feel through the first hoop, pulling up just in time.

Joe watched as Grian sped through the hoops in the distance. It would take time, but Grian was already becoming his old self again, this time for real. He pulled out his communicator and sent a quick text to Xisuma.

_Joehillssays: Hey Xisuma, I was wondering if Grian could temporarily move in with you. He's having trouble sleeping, and I think it would be the best option._

_Xisumavoid: That'd be fine, but right now I'm working with Iskall and Scar on a certain project that requires pulling a few all-nighter. Perhaps he could stay with Mumbo for a week or so?_

_Mumbo Jumbo: It's fine with me, I'm kinda busy at Area 77 at the moment. Found something weird in Grain's spellbook._

_Grian: Who's this Grain character?!_

_Mumbo Jumbo: *Grian_

_Grian: lol_

_Joehillssays: Don't text while flying Grian_

_Grian: Look behind you_

Joe turned around, and of course, Grian was sitting on top of the final hoop, grinning mischievously.

"Well, that was fast." Joe noted.

Grian hopped off. "Well, I'm gonna head over to the poultry cave and- uh, get Poultry Man. Yeah." He laughed and hopped off the platform. "Again, bye Joe!"

Joe stood up as the Fae flew in the direction of his base. Yep, definitely going back to his old self.

Joe cracked a smile as Grian- sorry, Poultry Man flew out of the top of Grian's base and headed in the direction of Cleo's ship.

_And a lone author has no clue how to end a chapter lol pretend I ended it well XD_

_____________________________________

Here's some fluff :D Also, my update schedule for FoF is a bit wonky at the moment, with mother's day and finals, so bear with me.

Also, 31 chapters out of 51 already! It's been a wild ride guys.


	32. Chapter 32

Mumbo fidgeted with his tie as Doc examined the crystal. "Hmm... It's definitely not from the server, I can tell that by some of the hairline cracks, likely a result of when it passed the firewall."

While Mumbo didn't know much about the whole server management stuff, he understood what Doc was talking about. The Firewall was a barrier between the console island and the server abyss, shutting them off from the rest of Minecraft. Other servers were the same, the firewall protecting them from Griefers or worse.

"So... What is it?" Mumbo asked.

Doc grumbled something before lightly smacking the crystal on the table. "Either the host is very good at being quiet, or there isn't one at all."

"Host?"

"Yeah. It's a communication device of sorts. Multi-server with the right code, which we've confirmed to be inscribed onto the crystal itself. But this sorta thing is highly illegal, since the only way to make these is with a hacker's touch and dark magic, or more specifically, it's the work of a modder."

Mumbo frowned. "A modder?"

Doc spun around to face him. "Yes. I'm assuming you don't know what they are, so I'll explain. A modder is someone with admin powers or creative mode who's proficient with command blocks and hacking. They're able to create new code on their own, as if they were a developer." Doc met Mumbo's eyes. "And they are often confused with the Fae, although I suspect the two are connected in a similar way admins and moderators are."

Doc spun back around to inspect the crystal once more. "From what I deduct, the host of the crystal is gone, either they found a new hosting source, or just gave up. Although it would take incredible hacking skill to infect another piece of technology, rather than just the crystal."

"So... What do you suggest we do with it?" Mumbo asked.

Doc placed the crystal in a silver bag. "While I'd love to keep this in Area 77 as a new display, it's best to get rid of it. Probably protected against lava, so I'd suggest taking it to the End and dropping it in the void." He handed the bag to Mumbo.

Mumbo frowned a little. "How do you know all this about modders? I'd expect this from Xisuma, sure, but I thought you were a technology guy?"

Doc rolled his eyes with a gruff laugh. "Have you not seen the displays? I've had to do research in glitches, and ended up dabbling in mods as a result."

Mumbo nodded. "Well, I'll be off."

_________________________________

Poultry Man sped around the End, enjoying the open space and thin air. Xisuma did reset the End last night, so he knew lots of Hermits would go endbusting today. Perfect for a superhero ambush.

He'd already managed to get Iskall, Scar, and False (who almost decapitated him) and was constantly checking the time so he could get changed and fly to Mumbo's base before the sun set. He wasn't expecting the mustached man to appear on the obsidian platform a couple minutes later.

But when Mumbo casually pulled out a silver bag-one he recognized from Area 77-Poultry Man dove down to surprise the redstoner.

"Why hello!" He chirped, startling Mumbo, who dropped the bag into the void. "Oooh, I hope nothing valuable was in there."

"Just something Doc wanted me to dispose of anyways." Mumbo replied.

Poultry Man shrugged. "Okay. Heads up!" He shot a few eggs at Mumbo, who expertly dodged.

"Heh, nice to see you too Gri-Poultry Man." Mumbo then frowned. "Wait, you're wearing an Elytra? But..."

Poultry Man let out a giggle, knowing full well of why Mumbo was confused. "Let's say I picked up a few tricks." He snapped his fingers, and Mumbo caught a glimpse of lilac wings before Poultry man snapped his fingers a second time, the elytra reappearing. He game Mumbo a sly wink before diving into the waiting portal, ready to wake up on his bed at home.

Instead, he found himself at spawn island. That... Was strange. He swore he had his spawn set, had somebody stolen his bed? He glanced around, making sure he was alone, before taking off the chicken mask and outfit, dropping the glamour on his wings.

Grian sighed and stretched, standing up. He then noticed a note tacked onto the nether portal.

_Hey G,_

_So something happened and now your spawn is permanently set to spawn island, not sure why. Aslo, you kinda have Keep Inventory on for some reason. Hopefully this'll go back to normal, but don't worry. If anything regarding those changes, don't hesitate to text me._

_\- Xisumavoid_

"Well, that explains that." Grian shrugged, stepping into the portal with the note. He stuffed it in his inventory, before hopping out of the portal and gliding over to his own portal. He noticed, with a smirk, that flying everywhere continued to be a habit, even with the new wings.

Grian stepped into his base and after stowing the Poultry Man costume and the leftover eggs in the Poultry Cave, grabbed his bed and a couple empty shulkers, filling them with the necessities.

___________________

Mumbo has just got back to his base, when Grian swooped in with an excited "Mumboooo!" and gracefully landing in front of him.

"Grand entrance as always." Mumbo chuckled.

Grian grinned, happy to be with his best friend. "So, care to help me unpack?"

Mumbo nodded, and led Grian upstairs to his living area. "So, I think Poultry Man's secretly a fae as well." He teased.

Grian returned his casual accusation by faking innocence. "What makes you say that?"

"I was in the End today, and he kinda ambushed me. I caught a glimpse of his wings, purple like yours." Mumbo pressed the act lightly, curious as to how Grian would weasel his way out of that one.

Grian gave him a sly smile as they arrived in the living area, a simple, wide room with a bed in one corner and a few chests. He flew into the room-literally-and said his iconic line:

"It wasn't me, it was the man in the chicken costume!"

Mumbo laughed as he stepped inside himself. Grian had already set up his bed and haphazardly set down his shulker boxes in a corner. He then whirled around practically begged mumbo to let him decorate the room.

Mumbo sighed, and gave him a nod. Grian really was a builder at heart, and Mumbo enjoyed watching him work, even if he didn't quite understand the meaning behind all the different accents. He lied down on his bed and watched Grian flit around the room, putting various lamps and blocks around. He eventually found himself dozing off.

_Smack_

Mumbo jolted awake in surprise, glancing up at Grian who was holding a pillow and grinning mischievously.

"I couldn't resist." Grian confessed, attempting and failing to suppress a smile.

Mumbo found a grin spreading on his own face. "Oh you asked for it." He grabbed his own pillow and smacked Grian who shrieked and stumbled back, laughing like a maniac.

"Pillow fight!"

____________________________

Doc cursed himself for making assumptions. Because he'd assumed the crystal had no host, he was left fighting for control with some hacker from another server. Curse his cyborg parts, curse his impatience, curse the fact he was losing control-

Doc slumped over, and found he no longer had control of his body. He was trapped in his own mind, forced to watch as his possessor stood up and let out a laugh.

For once, he felt a pang of sympathy for Xisuma.

 _What's your name?_ He growled in his mind.

"Sam." The possessor answered simply. "And this is much better that a book. I can actually move around. And from my research, all I have to do is act grumpy, and no one will suspect a thing."

Doc hated how smug Sam sounded. _What do you want?_

"Oh, not much. I just need to stalk Gree-on until he fulfils our promise." Sam grinned. "Now tell me, where does he like to hang out?"

Doc didn't answer. There was no way Sam could make him, right?

Sam laughed. "The funny thing is, if I hurt this body, only you will feel pain. So I'd start talking."

_Well crap._


	33. Chapter 33

Grian thumbed through the book, unconsciously wondering why Booky hadn't spoken up yet. Perhaps he'd managed to escape the book. Or maybe he'd decided to be quiet until Grian accomplished his promise.

Grian was sitting on the floor next to his bed. He'd retrieved the book from his camper earlier that morning, while Mumbo was still asleep. Mumbo had left about an hour ago to work at his farms, leaving Grian alone for a little bit.

Grian absentmindedly muttered a couple words under his breath, the spell for summoning light. He'd been practicing that one for a while now, and was slowly getting better and better. 

As he flipped through the pages, a small paper fell out of the book. Grian had gone through the book hundreds of times and never saw it. Besides, it was written in english, and the paperfelt fresh, meaning it was recent. Grian curiously read over the paper.

_Time's ticking away_

_Causing poppies to wilt and_

_Somebody to watch_

_Nine days give or take_

_An old friend welcomes you home_

_Fulfill your promise_

_\- Booky_

Grian mulled over the words. He didn't question how Booky had managed to write that, but it looked like he'd given him a deadline.

What unsettled him was the line, "An old friend welcomes you home."

He was home already. He'd left Evo for a reason. There'd been nothing left for him there, so he'd moved on. As for the possibility of Tokyo, well, he'd never considered that place home. He'd left there to escape the drama and strange events. And an old friend? Grian almost wanted to think it was Taurtis, but that wouldn't be possible. _Taurtis was gone._

_____________________________

Scar rubbed his eyes wearily. He, Iskall, and Xisuma had been looking through the log for a few days now. Jellie was perched on his knee, mewling for pets, and Scar obliged.

Scar pressed a couple keys and the next log popped up. He'd been working backwards from present day, and were currently looking at the logs around the time just before the civil war. Scar scrolled down, spotting a couple bug fixes but nothing interesting.

"I found something." Iskall said, his voice laced with hope. Unlike Scar and Xisuma, he'd been working from the middle of the season back to the start.

Iskall showed Scar and Xisuma the screen and log. The log was dated to around the time of the Phantom Hunt Event.

Xisuma looked over the log. "That... Actually makes a lot of sense." He showed the screen to Scar.

The log showed different players and the XP they gained that day. Grian's was noticeably high, meaning this was from the week that he'd farmed the phantoms to attempt to get ahead in the competition. "So you think the huge increase in EXP triggered the changes?" Scar asked.

Iskall nodded. "A couple logs later has the first 'glitch' fix for Grian. The 'bug' was that he'd gotten trapped in his mail tube while he was finishing it. Apparently the water wasn't letting him through."

Scar frowned for a second. "I remember in legends how Faeries had a strong dislike for running water, since it would severely mess up their wings. While the water around Grian's base was stationary and fine, the water in his mail tube was flowing. He probably had an issue passing through because the Fae part of him was hydrophobic."

"When Grian first got his Elytra, he rarely used boats, but a little after the mail tube incident, he dropped using them altogether, even when traveling to Hermitville and back." Xisuma added. "I think we have our answer. A surplus EXP coursing through him stirred the physical changes, but they didn't quite take hold for a bit, mainly changing instincts, like how he flies everywhere, or the whole water thing. Finally, it began to give him wings, and that's where this story started."

"So, should we tell him?" Iskall asked.

Xisuma though for a second. "Some of it, yes. But the idea that he can access Admin commands and Creative mode, and all that? We should wait until he's recovered from the trauma from a couple months ago. Joe told me that Grian's mind is still shifting back to a sense of security, so his emotions are still reacting to triggers like his life's in danger, and as we've discussed, that brings out his magic. Once he's gotten a hang of his magic and he's recovered as well as he can, we'll tell him. But as of now, that's a burden I'm not sure he can handle."

Scar stood up, setting Jellie on the floor. "I guess we should let him know, then."

"Agreed." Xisuma said pulling out his communicator.

_____________________

Six days had passed since Grian had found the note in the book. His sleep had been getting better since he started sleeping in the same room as Mumbo, so at least that was good. But he still had a lingering feeling of anxiety thanks to the deadline set by Booky.

So when Xisuma finally finished that secret project between him, Scar, and Iskall, Grian thought the Anxiety would get better. But it got worse, as Grian hated the idea of stealing something so important. But he couldn't break a promise.

_______________________

Doc had gone over all the possible ways to gain back control of his body, but nothing had worked. He'd deduced that he was being controlled remotely, like a robot or drone. That left few ways to try to gain back control and none of them had succeeded. So he had to try to outsmart Sam.

He knew he couldn't lie, since Sam knew his thoughts thanks to the complex code. But he could leave details out.

So when Sam asked where Grian liked to hang out, Doc gave him two locations. Sahara, and Grian's own base. He knew that Grian did go to those places a lot, but they wouldn't give away anything about anyone close to Grian. Sure, Sahara would connect him to Iskall and Mumbo, but from an outside view, the Architects were nothing but a few business partners.

The only time Sam left his mind was at night, after Doc had fallen asleep. In the morning, he'd have a few precious seconds of control Before Sam was back. If Doc used those seconds to try to alert anyone, Sam would get rid of the attempt. Before night, Sam would place his communicator far from the bed, so Doc had no time to write a message. If Doc tried to scribble it in a book, Sam would tear up the page.

And nobody suspected a thing. Sam was a grudgingly good actor, or maybe Doc was easy to imitate. Either way, nobody wondered why 'Doc' kept hanging around Sahara, or how 'Doc' had been a bit secluded lately.

And nobody noticed how 'Doc' usually seemed to be in the same area as Grian, or at least close by.


	34. Chapter 34

"Hey, you alright?"

Grian pursed his lips. Xisuma was helping him set up his bed, and must've noticed the anxious vibes rolling off him. "It's nothing, just some pesky anxiety." He answered. He sighed and flopped down on the bed.

Xisuma sat down next to him, a worried look shooting through his visor. "You sure?"

"Y-yeah. Just, antsy I guess." Grian replied.

Xisuma paused for a moment. "If it makes you feel better, I know what caused your physical changes in a Faerie."

Grian shot up. "You do!?"

Xisuma nodded. "It was caused by the XP you gained during the phantom hunt. The magic must've awoken the previously inactive DNA you had. It changed your instincts first, and then moved onto the more physical stuff, which is why it took so long."

"Wow." Grian blinked. "It's strange. I finally know how. And I also know why, since I've apparently always been a Fae. But..." He twiddled his thumbs. "It makes me wonder, is there anyone else out there like me? Where does my magic even come from? It's like, one question gets answered, and then three more pop up."

"Well, perhaps future you will discover that." Xisuma gave the Fae a reassuring smile. "We are moving servers soon, anyways."

"Oh right. New books, new villagers, and a looming nether update as well." Grian stretched. "I guess I've answered enough questions for now. Time for me to move on, and begin accepting myself and recovering."

Xisuma grinned. "That's the kind of thing Joe will be thrilled to hear from you. Tomorrow."

"Yeah, we should get some shut-eye, huh?"

"Mmhm." Xisuma stood up and walked over to his own bed. "Especially me, I probably have a dozen or so phantoms out to get me."

Grian giggled and flopped down onto the bed, almost forgetting his looming promise.

Almost.

The book seemed to glare at him from the other side of the room, drawing a silent sigh from Grian's mouth. He glanced over to see Xisuma in bed, waiting for the sun to finish setting. Grian quietly moved to the floor, to avoid falling asleep himself.

A few minutes passed, and Grian let out a sigh of relief. Xisuma wouldn't wake up till morning, and Grian could finally get his mission over with. He walked over to Xisuma and quietly snatched the device off the nightstand.

His fingers shook as he hastily typed in the command that would take him to the server island. He tried to ignore how normal the admin screen felt to him. He tried to ignore the instincts from evo flooding back. He reminded himself that he was no longer an admin. He gave that up when he left Evo.

He pressed enter and squeezed his eyes shut as the teleportation whisked him away to the server island. When the vertigo finally stopped, he opened his eyes.

The server island was a tiny sphere built from bedrock in the sky, far above build limit, and directly over world spawn. The sphere was only lit up by ender roda, and a console sat in one corner, barely used. There was also a portal on it, that when Grian glanced through, led only to a wall.

Grian gulped and walked over to the console and typed a couple things on it. He poked his head back through, and sure enough, the wall had disappeared, leaving only a void and other floating portals blocked off by their own walls.

He took a deep breath and ripped out a couple of his own feathers, wincing. He quickly tossed them in to the void before pulling back through the portal and scampering over to the console.

His hands flew across the surface, closing the wall back down and locking it securely.

Grian took a shaky breath and teleported himself back to Xisuma's ase before wiping the commands off the communicator's history and placing it back on the nightstand.

He scrambled into bed, welcoming the quiet darkness. His paranoia had peaked, and he didn't need a freakout, not right now. He just wanted to sleep and forget all of what happened.

His story was over, wasn't it? No more to worry about. It was over.

But deep down he knew he wasn't that lucky.

______________________

Sam quickly typed in his code, excited that it was all coming together. He had the feathers and he'd imbued them in his virus, ready to send it through to Hermitcraft. It originally wasn't going to be easy, since he thought he'd be trapped in that book still. But he wasn't anymore. He had someone to work through.

He entered the codes and watched as the feathers crumbled to ashes. Now, all he had to do was tell his friend.

Sam skipped over to the End portal and hopped through, running over to the cloaked person, who was studying the void again.

"It's done! Once morning comes, I can transfer the virus into the system and then our plan can continue. You've done your part, yes?"

The man stood up, his cobalt blue cloak fluttering around his feet. "I have. I just need you to lay the bait for me."

Sam bounced on his heels a bit. "So, who's our target? Is it gonna be Mumbo? I know him and Greeon are super close."

"Actually, I've gone for the bigger fish." The tall man pulled out his communicator and showed the screen to Sam. "I got a hand from a certain someone who was fading away. A certain... alter ego."

Sam's grin widened as he read the words on the screen. "I thought he'd perma'd by now?"

"Well, as of now, he has. Let's just say that I'm fulfilling his final wish." The cloaked man gave a bitter laugh.

"Genius. He can't ignore us now, not after we've taken the core of the server." Sam pulled out a knife and twirled it between his fingers. "It'll be utter chaos once their admin goes missing."


	35. Chapter 35

The moment Xisuma woke up, he felt something off.

Xisuma quickly checked his communicator, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No one had any troubles, and the code seemed fine.

So why was he feeling strange?

Xisuma glanced over to Grian's bed.

_Ah. That's why._

Some thorny black roots had popped up around the edges of the bed, and the blankets and the pillow were on the floor. Some purple feathers were strewn about the mattress, as if Grian had been tossing and turning in his sleep. The Faerie in question, was curled up in the middle of the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Grian? Are you alright?"

Grian sighed and sat up, swinging his legs off the bed. "Had a nightmare." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He stretched out his wings and began preening them, or at least trying. He winced every time he touched them.

Xisuma walked over and sat down next to the builder. "I can do it, if you'd like." He suggested.

Grian nodded. "Thanks, I slept on them weirdly, and you know I'm not that gentle."

Xisuma slowly began straightening the feathers, touching the wings as lightly as he could. He noticed the black roots begin to retreat into the floor, as Grian muttered some foreign words under his breath. Either Grian was speaking in French, or he was reciting a spell.

Xisuma finished grooming the wings a few minutes later, and Grian tiredly stood up and stretched, almost smacking Xisuma in the face with them.

"So, do you want to talk about your nightmare?" Xisuma asked. "You don't have to, if you don't want to."

"I'd rather not." Grian said, slipping on his red sweater and hippie beads. "I gotta get going, I have a Sahara meeting soon."

"Okay, take care." Xisuma said, gathering up the stray feathers. Grian gave him a tired nod before spreading his wings and flying off.

______________________

"Hey Xisuma?"

Xisuma glanced up from his work to see Iskall. "Oh. What brings you here? Found a glitch?"

"Sorta, but it's actually a little concerning." Iskall opened his hand and a little transparent figuring of himself floated up. "I called my cam account from the camera server, and something strange happened when it entered the server."

Xisuma set down the shulker box he was organizing and frowned. Cam accounts were basically transparent figurines of oneself that recorded you while you were working, for future reference or just memorabilia. They originate from a camera server, and you can call yours from that place whenever. Not everyone has them, but most of the people on the server do.

"Alright. Go on."

The swede pursed his lips. "When the cam account slipped through the firewall, I noticed that the whitelist-blacklist system is down."

Xisuma pulled out his communicator and quickly checked the server systems. "The server wall is still up and strong, as is the whitelist-blacklist system, but from what I see, you're right. There's some kind of glitch in the system that's allowing anyone with a specific bit of code to enter."

"Can you patch it?" Iskall asked.

"Not sure, but I have to try." Xisuma replied. "Thanks for letting me know, this is a pretty serious issue."

________________

"Whatcha workin on?" Grian asked, hovering around Xisuma's admin workstation. It was late afternoon, and Xisuma was still working to patch up the glitch Iskall found.

"Iskall found an issue with the server wall and whitelist-blacklist system. Apparently, anyone with a specific but of code can enter the system. I'm dissecting the code right now, to see what exactly I have to patch. If I don't fix this as soon as possible, we could end up with strangers on our server. Or worse, Griefers." Xisuma explained, still focused on his work.

Behind him, he didn't notice how Grian paled, or how black roots pushed up out of the ground around Grian's feet.

"Hey Xisuma? I'm gonna take a walk for a bit. I'll be back before sundown." Grian said quickly.

"Alright. Just stay safe." Xisuma said, looking over the numbers for the thirty-seventh time.

Grian quickly left Xisuma's base, flying off to an uninhabited area, and sat down. He just needed some peace and quiet to calm down, and sort out his thoughts.

_And if a certain cyborg creeper was watching him from the shadows, Grian didn't notice._


	36. Chapter 36

The field was dead now, black roots curling through the grass and dirt. Grian sighed as he stood up and wrenched his ankles free from the vines. He'd blacked out as soon as he'd reached the field, and when he woke up, this was all there was left.

He needed to see Joe again anyways.

Grian shivered and pushed off the ground, opening his wings and taking off in the direction of Joe's.

__________________

Xisuma wasn't sure how long he'd puzzled over the hacker's work. He glanced out one of the windows to see the sky getting dark. Grian was nowhere in sight, still not back from his "walk". Xisuma found himself beginning to worry, and he pulled out his communicator.

_Xisumavoid: Hey Grian, where r u? Im getting worried._

_Grian: M'fine, I'm with Joe._

_JoeHills: He had a panic attack while he was on his walk, but he's okay now._

_Grian: Sorry about not letting you know X_

_Xisumavoid: It's ok, I was just worried_

Xisuma set his communicator down with a sigh. Maybe he was just being paranoid. He debated pulling an all-nighter on this bug, it was pretty serious after all. Then he got a message in chat.

_Docm77: Hey Xisuma?_

_Xisumavoid: Yeah Doc?_

_Docm77: Iskall told me about the bug_

_Xisumavoid: I still haven't figured it out yet, sorry._

_Docm77: I was gonna suggest that I look into it. Mumbo and I found something a week or so ago that may be connected. So if you want to sleep, I can take over for now._

_Xisumavoid: Thank's Doc._

_Docm77: Don't mention it. Now get some sleep._

Xisuma set down his communicator and removed his helmet. Just then, Grian swooped inside with a smooth landing as always.

The first thing Xisuma noticed was how frazzled and nervous Grian looked. His hair was askew, probably from flying, and his face only said paranoia on it.

"Hey, you alright Gri?" Xisuma asked, standing up from his workstation as he closed down his screens for the night.

_____________________

Grian opened his mouth, tempted to confess that the Hacker was his fault, but quickly closed it again and resolved to shaking his head instead.

Xisuma took a step towards him, and gently grabbed his hand, leading him over to the beds. "You should sleep, okay? You'll feel better after a night's sleep." He gave Grian a reassuring smile. "And don't worry, I won't pry."

"Thanks." Grian mumbled, lying down on his bed. And despite his anxiety, he fell asleep.

Xisuma also climbed into bed, falling asleep rather quickly as well. All was quiet on the server, everyone in bed, their communicators muted for the night.

_T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡ has joined the game_

_________________

Panic was among the server the next morning, the Hermits trying to figure out who and where this new stranger was.

Doc had disappeared as well, which set off a few red flags in Xisuma's mind. He himself was trying to locate the new player, but to no avail. They didn't show up in Tab, nor in the Player list. Nobody saw an extra nametag, it was borderline terrifying.

Xisuma considered calling a server meeting and having everyone move servers early, but pushed the thought away quickly. Even if they did move servers, the hacker could probably just follow them, as long as the server's whitelist system was the same, which it usually was. The only way to change it would be to fully destroy the server and create a new one from scratch, which only he could join. Then, he'd have to invite the rest of the hermits, but that was the issue. Once the hermits would leave the server, he'd lost all contact information. He couldn't write anything, down, since he'd lose all his items as soon as he joined the new world.

There was a reason why only a couple people would join each season.

Xisuma dove back into the code, dissecting it again and again, trying to fix the system. He began to type a couple warnings into his communicator.

He'd only typed in half his message when a hand clamped over his mouth. Xisuma panicked, and tried to call for help in the chat, but his attacker had already yanked him backwards, before hitting the back of his head with something hard, shoving him into unconsiousness.

___________________

_Xisumavoid: Hey guys, I still can't find this mystery player. Make sure you're armed at all times and properly suited up incasimgjhkljb;k_

_Mumbo Jumbo: Uh..._

_GoodTimesWithScar: Xisuma? You okay?_

_Xisumavoid: helghjlk_

_GoodTimesWithScar: Xisuma?_

_Iskall85: Xisuma why aren't you answering?_

_T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡: Ÿ́o͢u̮ c͐a̦ṉn͠o̪t̳ i͐g̡n͎ōr͉e̳ u᷈s̳ a͏n̲y̋ l͝o͌n̾g̫e͊r͂_

_T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡ has left the game_

_Xisumavoid has left the game_

_Grian: nonononononononono_

_Grian: HE PROMISED_

_Mumbo Jumbo: Grian? You know something about this?_

_Mumbo jumbo: Grian?!_

_____________________

Grian didn't know exactly what he was feeling as he swooped down into Xisuma's base andsnatched up the book. Rage? Fear? Guilt? They all swirled together in a muddy mixture that sent chills down his spine and made his blood boil at the same time.

The roots sprouted up around his feet once more, and frost began to spread around the room. The frost was accompanied by occasional plumes of fire as random things caught fire only to be extinguished quickly by the bitter cold Grian has surrounded himself in.

"I did what you asked." his voice came out in a whisper, but was gaining volume as he spoke. "Why him? You knew this was going to happen and-and I fell for it!" The heat began to overtake the frost as clear rage surfaced in the mud, making his vision start to go red.

The book stayed silent. Cold and stoic. It felt wrong. But Grian didn't care. If the book could talk, it could hear him. It could hear him building up anger and rage towards both the book and himself, as the room began to heat up even more.

"You promised you wouldn't hurt anyone!" He shouted. He was angry. He wanted this to be over. For this to be gone. For this freaking book to disappear-

The book burst into flames, still as silent as it had been, no last words uttered, even as it crumbled to ashes in his hands.

And then that cheerful voice rang out behind him, sending a chill down his back.

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

_______________________________

The room was ablaze, fire surrounding the two men, but not yet touching them.

One is laughing while the other is frozen in shock and confusion.

"B-booky?"

"Yes. But you can call me Sam. Samgladiator. You shouldn't have left, Gree-on."

________________________

_Mumbo Jumbo: Xisuma's base is on fire, and I can see Doc and Grian's nametag's inside!!!! What do I do?!_

_Iskall85: Anyone near Xisuma's, get a lot of water buckets and get above his base, and pour the water down from there. Tango and Stress, you two and I have the best resistance to fire, so we'll place water inside. Everyone else, try to get to the SD pronto!_

_Mumbo Jumbo: On it!_

_Stressmonster: Gotcha_

_TangoTek: omw_

_JoeHills: I'm bringing a lot of buckets!_

_ZombieCleo: Same here_

________________________

"S-sam?" Grian took a step backwards. "Wha-why? Why are you doing this?!"

"You know why. You left us. _You left me_."

Water began to trickle down into the burning building, and Grian glanced up. He saw many nametags, all people he knew. He snapped his attention back to Sam.

"What do you want?" He said, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

He only got a laugh out of Sam. "You'll see. You know where to find me. Once you're there, go to where it all went wrong."

"Wait! What do you mean-"

_Docm77 was killed by Samgladiator_


	37. Chapter 37

By the time Iskall, Tango, and Stress arrived, Xisuma's base was covered with streams of water. And while the death message had worried him, he knew he had more pressing matters.

"Tango, you and I will go from the sides. Stress, you go through to top. The goal right now is to get rid of the fire and make sure Grian's okay. Bdubs, Scar, Keralis? You guys need to find Doc. Keralis, check spawn island. Scar go to area 77, and Bdubs, check his base. False, Wels, you two keep a lookout. The rest of you, go rendezvous with the others in the shopping district and tell them what you can." Iskall spoke evenly, landing on the edge of Xisuma's base.

Scar, Bdubs, and Keralis had taken off to look for Doc, and the other hermits began making their way to the SD. Stress began breaking through to top of Xisuma's base, as Tango flew around the other side to enter.

Iskall slipped into the base, keeping his head low as to not choke on the heavy smoke. While the water from above had put out a considerable amount of fire, the source was still inside, burning away.

He made his way through the base, placing down water as he went. He bumped into Stress and Tango in the center.

Instead of speaking, and risking getting smoke in his lungs, Tango pointed down. Iskall glanced at the floor beneath him, and could barely spot Grian's nametag through the haze. Tango then mimed digging before spreading his hands to simulate fire. He then mimed getting burned. Tango then mimed pouring a water bucket before miming choking.

Digging, fire, burn. Digging, water, choke. Iskall managed to understand what Tango was getting at. Dig down, risk falling into fire and getting badly burnt. Use a water bucket, risk causing more smoke to choke on.

Iskall glanced at Stress who had knelt down and broken a block, and was glancing down to the floor beneath it. The entire room was covered in fire, making the choice an easy one. She then poked her heath through and managed to choke out, "Cover your mouth!" before coughing violently herself. She then managed to shought, "We're coming!" Before nodding to Tango and Iskall to place the water.

He jumped down into the room, covering his own mouth. There was so much smoke, he couldn't see a thing. He reached and arm out and it hit another person. The person then took his hand and placed it on their shoulder. Iskall could feel the distinct material of Tango's jacket. He then took Tango's hand and placed it on his eye before reaching out again. This time, his hands met long hair. Stress. She grabbed onto his hand and he moved hers to his eye to let her know who he was.

Iskall took a step forward through the smoke, reaching out, Stress and Tango did the same, walking in different directions. Iskall took another step and his and his hand brushed something soft and thick. Iskall quickly recognized Grian sweater and quickly grabbed the Fae's wrist. Grian immediately clung onto him, and after Iskall guided the hermit's hand to his eye, pulled him into a brief hug. He then turned and called to the others, "I got him! Out now!" before breaking into a fit of coughs as the smoke entered his system. 

He made sure he had a firm grip on Grian and then went into a random direction, until he found the wall. He used his free hand to pull out his pick and hacked away at the wall. He heard a couple footstep behind him, and felt a couple more pairs of hands clinging onto him, before also pulling out picks and hacking at the wall.

Water rushed into the room, and the four Hermits pushed out into the water and began surfacing quickly using the little air they did have.

As Iskall's head broke the surface, he gasped, taking in as much clean air as possible. He quickly did a head count before swimming to the nearest bit of land (Mumbo's base), where False and Wels pulled them out of the water.

Iskall pulled out his communicator and messaged everyone.

_Iskall85: Grian's safe. We're at Mumbo's base. Has anyone located Doc yet?_

_Scar: He was at Area 77, we're heading to the SD now_

_Keralis: Good to know, omw to the SD_

_Bdubs: Same here._

_Iskall85: We'll meet you guys in the hub._

Iskall shakily stood up. He glanced over to where Stress was fussing over Grian, who looked like he'd demised. "Alright guys." Iskall croaked, "No use staying in Mumbo's base. Let's head to the shopping district."

_________________________

Xisuma woke up on a bus. While that was strange all in itself, Xisuma didn't question. He quickly assessed his injuries. He felt a sharp pain on his head, and could see some blood in the inside of his visor, but if he was bleeding, the helmet was what was keeping him from bleeding out.

Xisuma then looked for his communicator. He pulled it out and tried to send a message.

_Xisumavoid: Is anyone there?_

_Samgladiator: He's awake._

_T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡: Did you set his spawn?_

_Samgladiator: Yes_

_T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡": After I knock him out, bring him to the End. Then meet me at the school. We'll monitor Hermitcraft from there._

_Samgladiator: Gotcha_

_Xisumavoid was put into a deep sleep by T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡_

_____________________

A boy sits in a black place, speaking with a voidling.

"So they actually believed you?"

"Yeah, as you said, they don't know anything about alters. Especially the bonds between alter and host."

"So you're telling me you succeeded?"

"Yeah. That extra step? They think that code was the only thing that allowed them to get close."

"Clever. Now we wait and hope we played our cards right."

The voidling nods. "I have no way of knowing how anything will play out, but if NPG taught me anything, it's that unpredictability is a good thing. You did your part as well, yes?"

"I did what I could. I had a lot of trouble tapping into my old watcher magic, but I managed to scrape together my task." The boy holds out his hand and an orb flickers to life. "We can keep an eye on our friend through this."

"Well, we've done what we can." The voidling sighs. "I hope we can save this like my brother saved me."

The boy puts a hand on the voidling's shoulder. "I hope so too."


	38. Chapter 38

Grian shivered. After Doc- no Sam had confronted him, everything had been a blur. He remembered smoke, a lot of it, and people's voices. He remembered Iskall hugging him, and then rescuing him from Xisuma's base along with Stress and Tango. He remembered Stress fussing over him before Tango helped him limp through the Nether portal.

He vaguely remembered catching eye contact with Doc in the Nether hub, and seeing how disheveled and quiet he was.

Then he was in the shopping district, the other hermits asking around for more information. Stress and Mumbo took him aside to make sure he was okay while Iskall climbed up onto a shop and cleared his throat for attention.

"Okay guys! I'm sure many of you are wondering what the heck just happened. While I can't say much, I can tell you what I know." The swede spoke calmly, addressing the hermits. "First, I will confirm your suspicions. Xisuma is missing, probably taken by the stranger from this morning. The stranger was able to pass the firewall, but not without a lot of hacking. Second, shortly after Xisuma went missing, his base caught on fire, with Grian and Doc trapped inside. As for now, that's all we know for sure. I ask of you guys, to please not panic." Iskall nodded and jumped down.

Doc then spoke up. "This issue may be worse than we thought. For the past few weeks, I've been possessed by a player who calls himself Samgladiator. He's been forcing me to stalk Grian in that entire time. This is the first time I've had control of my body in weeks." His voice was raspy and cold. "From what I've gathered, he and Grian have a history."

Heads turned to look at Grian, who averted his eyes. He was still processing what just happened, and he didn't need the attention.

Mumbo knelt down next to him. "G? If you have any information about this, now is the time to share." He said softly. "I know you're uncomfortable, but if we're going to find Xisuma, we need to know."

Grian hesitated before speaking. He could feel the roots curling around his feet again, digging into his ankles. He took a deep breath, and let the words spill out.

"Sam was my roommate in high school. Our high school was on a hardcore world, and Sam was keen to perma-killing others. I've lost count how many times I've seen him run after someone with a knife. And so I left, and I took Taurtis with me. We fled to Evo, but a while later, Taurtis was called to become a watcher, an-and he did but- but there was an accident with the End in a new update, and Taurtis went to check it out and..." Grian pulled his knees to his chest. "And he perma-died. And then I was called to be a watcher, but I wanted to keep building, so they sent me to a random server, and that server happened to be this one and.-" Grian stopped himself. "And now Sam's after me because I took Taurtis with me. I think he believes Taurtis' perma was my fault, and he's trying to get revenge."

The words spilled out of his mouth as the memories flooded back. Mumbo was rubbing circles on Grian's back, comforting him.

Grian then opened his mouth, and before he could change his mind, told everyone about Booky, the Faerie Stroke cure, and the promise he had to keep. He also spoke about the incident with Doc in Xisuma's base. The words all came out at once, as the guilt washed over him. The grass beneath him turned black and crumbled into dust with the tiniest of touches.

It came as a shock when Grian realized he was crying. Mumbo was hugging him, and Grian sobbed into his chest. He was overwhelmed by regret and fear, and wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. 

________________________

Mumbo held Grian tightly, allowing him to cry on his shoulder. He glanced up at the other Hermits, which were as shocked as he was.

"I think we should give Grian some space." Joe spoke calmly and quietly. "The poor thing's been through a lot."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd, as hermits began to disperse. Soon, the only ones around Grian were Stress, Doc, Iskall, and Joe. 

Doc and Iskall were quietly discussing the situation a few feet away while Stress tried to coax Grian to eat a cookie. Joe knelt down next to Mumbo, who was still holding Grian.

"C'mon love, it'll make you feel better. Besides, you need to regain your strength, the fire took a lot out of you." Stress said, holding the cookie out.

Grian finally gave in, and took a half-hearted bite out of the pastry. Mumbo gave Joe a worried look and they held a silent conversation.

"He looks bad." Mumbo said quietly to Joe.

Joe nodded. "This can't be good for his mental health."

"What do we do now?" Mumbo asked.

"I wish I knew." Joe said. "For now, we should get him to bed and resting."

Mumbo nodded. "Hey G, would you like to bunk with me tonight?"

Grian answered with a nod of his own, and Mumbo stood up, helping Grian get to his feet.

"Let's meet in Mumbo's base tomorrow at 9 am. We can see what we can do from there." Iskall decided.

Everyone nodded in agreement before going their separate ways.


	39. Chapter 39

"First things first. If we're going to save Xisuma, we need to choose carefully who should go." Doc said, addressing the other five hermits. "Any nominations?"

"False, for one." Iskall said. "She's our best fighter right now."

Joe nodded. "Stress, you should go as well. We don't know the condition Xisuma's in, and if worse comes to worse, you're the best at healing."

"Alright. I just hope we're not too late." Stress sighed.

"We should send Ren too." Doc said. "And perhaps Scar."

"Sounds like a team." Iskall replied. "I'll go contact them now."

"Wait! I'm coming too!" Mumbo said quickly.

Doc frowned at Mumbo. "Are you sure?"

Mumbo nodded. "I just... I have a gut feeling, okay? I don't usually get those."

"Are you sure?" Grian asked worriedly. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"I don't want you getting hurt either. But you're my best friend. I'm worried about you." Mumbo gave Grian a weary but hopeful look.

Grian gave him a weak smile in return. "Okay. You're coming."

_____________________________

False inspected the glowing blade again, flipping it over and re-reading the enchantments carved into the handle. After Iskall had told her about the mission, she and Scra had taken it on themselves to make god armour and strong swords in case of a fight.

Sharpness V, Fire Aspect II, Smite V, Sweeping Edge V, Unbreaking III, and Knockback II, all present.

"That's one down, four to go." False called over to Scar. "How's the armour coming along?"

"Almost done with the first set of boots." Scar called back.

"Whatcha put on them?"

"Prop four, thorns three, proj prop four, unbreaking three, fire prop four, blast prop two, as well as depth strider three, just in case." Scar answered. "I'm about to stick feather falling four on, and then I'm onto the helmet."

"I think that's every enchantment possible." False said, impressed. "Aside from mending and the curses, of course."

"And frost-walker." Stress added, poking her head in. "Either of you have any fermented spider eyes, by any chance?"

"Oh, hi Stress! There should be a couple in that chest over there." Scar guestered to a chest on the far wall of the enchanting room.

"Thanks love. I'm making a bunch of slowness potions." Stress said, retrieving the eyes. "Splash ones, of course."

"Smart, but have you made healing and regen yet?" Scar asked.

"I've got a shulker full of regen, and the healing are brewing at the moment." Stress said, sneaking a glance at the sword over False's shoulder. "Wow that's a really nice sword Falsey!"

"It could be better, the anvil took away some of the durability. Got any diamonds on you? I need to repair it before it fully sets." False said, sticking the sword into the hot coals again.

"Uhh, here's a couple." Stress said, handing them over. False thanked her before going back to work.

Stress turned to Scar. "So the armours going great?"

Scar nodded. "And the brewing as well, yes?"

"Mhm! Ren's helping. Well, Renbob is."

"He switched to his alter?"

"Yep!"

Scar shrugged. "Makes sense. I'd switch to Cap, if he was any good at enchanting. Anyways, how's Grian doing?"

"He's with Joe right now."

"And what about Mumbo, Iskall and Doc?"

"Mumbo and Doc are putting together a makeshift plan, while Iskall's making nether trips to get supplies for the potions." Stress replied. "Good luck with the enchanting!"

"Good luck to you too!"


	40. Chapter 40

"Hey Grian?" Mumbo poked his head into the room. Joe and Grian were sitting cross-legged in the floor, comfortable in a nest of blankets.

"Hi Mumbo." Grian said quietly.

Joe nodded to Mumbo. "Come on in and make yourself comfy."

Mumbo obliged, climbing into the nest and sitting next to Grian.

"Soo, why the nest?" Mumbo asked curiously.

"We're testing out coping mechanisms." Joe answered. "Grian likes the nest best."

"It's cozy." Grian explained. "And warm. Probably bird stuff."

"Makes sense." Mumbo said. "You have always liked cozy spaces. Anyways, how're you feeling?"

"A bit better. I'm still worried." Grian leaned against Mumbo.

Mumbo ruffled his hair. "Just don't blame yourself, okay?"

"Okay." Grian bit his lip.

Joe reached out and squeezed Grian's hand. "See, Mumbo thinks so too."

Grian didn't say anything but relaxed a bit.

"He's been recovering as well as he can, but the current events certainly aren't helping." Joe told Mumbo. "On another note, how're the preparations coming?"

"They're coming along well. A lot of hermits had spare books and lapis lying around, so that's lucky."

Joe ran a few fingers through his own hair. "When do you think they'll all be finished?"

"They'll be done before sundown, so it's probably best to leave in the morning." Mumbo answered. "That okay with you Grian?"

Grian nodded. "Y-yeah. I've already figured out where we need to go."

"Really? Where?"

"Sam said 'where it all went wrong'. So, back at Highschool, where I almost died on the way to the airport." Grian said, picking at his sweater.

"How did that happen?" Mumbo asked, surprised. He immediately regretted the question when Grian answered.

"Taurtis was driving me, but Sam had stabbed him shortly beforehand. He passed out from blood loss while driving."


	41. Chapter 41

Grian had been quiet ever since he dropped that bombshell. Mumbo prayed he hadn't uncovered something sensitive, but Grian had quietly assured him that he was fine, the past was the past.

Night had fallen, and Mumbo climbed into bed, hoping he would fall asleep tomorrow with Xisuma safe and sound.

_________________________

"Who are you?"

The question sent a shiver down Mumbo's spine, but not in a bad way. It almost felt like he was seeing an innocent ghost, one who was curious.

But the person in front of him wasn't a ghost.

"Who are you?" The boy asked again.

"M-Mumbo." Mumbo stammered out. "Who a-are you?"

Instead of answering him, the boy let out a sad sigh. "The void is made of purely suffocating silence, wouldn't you agree? It can get lonely."

"How long... How long have you been here?" Mumbo asked.

"Time flows differently here. But we've been here too long."

Mumbo frowned "We've?"

"Yeah. Me and him. He found me a short time after I fell."

"Fell? Wait he? Who-" The boy interrupted Mumbo.

"I can only hope my plan will work. But I don't know how."

"Your plan?" Mumbo asked.

The boy locked eyes with Mumbo. "Look around. Tell me what you see."

"Um..." Mumbo gulped and glanced around. There was only darkness around him, making the fact he could see the boy blatantly impossible, since there was no light source. "Just... Darkness."

"No. What do you see?"

Mumbo took another look around, baffled. "It's just darkness? I don't see what you-" His breath hitched as his eyes fell on a figure huddled a ways away. He couldn't make out any defining features or colors, and when he tried to move closer to the figure, his feet wouldn't move.

"I-I see a person, lying in their side just over there." Mumbo said quickly.

"There's nothing there." The boy kept in eye contact. "When asked to see something when nothing exists, your brain filled in the gap. Here in the void, you saw something that your unconscious mind decided would belong. Blink a few times."

Mumbo did as told, and the figure disappeared.

"Your brain was told bluntly there was nothing there, so now it sees nothing there." The boy hummed. "But what if there was something there after all?"

Mumbo blinked, and then the figure was back, but this time he could hear faint laughter from them.

"You cannot trust what you've been told since birth. Nobody can explain the universe, but some can take advantage of their ignorance. It is always possible to break the laws of the world."

"Why are you telling me this?" Mumbo asked.

The boy gave him a sad smile. "I'm not. You're just a figment of my imagination. I'm dreaming, after all."

"But-"

"I don't know who you are. I might never know. I'm just spilling my thoughts to thin air, trying to make sense of my situation. My predicament was created by shattered code. But now I have a chance to fix it." The boy laughed. "I should wake up now, shouldn't I? The void is tugging me back to consciousness."

"Wait!" Mumbo yelped.

"What?"

"What's... What's your name?" He asked quickly.

The boy cocked his head. "T-"

_____________________________

Mumbo shot up in bed, gasping. His dream was fuzzy, already fading away to nothing.

But he had a strange feeling he'd tapped into something important.

"My goodness, it's too early for this." He muttered, crawling out of bed.

_____________________________

"Morning sleepyhead." The voidling spoke.

The boy yawned. "Morning."

"Who'd you talk to this time?"

The boy hesitated. "Someone entirely new. Someone named Mumbo."


	42. Chapter 42

"We're all here and accounted for, yes?" Scar asked, addressing the handful of Hermits gathered outside of Area 77.

"I think so." Ren answered glancing around. All five members of the team were present, as well as Doc , Stress, and Joe.

"Great. False, would you do the honors?"

False quickly opened her shulker box and passed out the new armour and weapons. "We put as many enchantments on these as possible, minus mending. Careful with the swords, they've got sweeping edge. Made sure you don't hit your teammates." She warned.

The five adventures slipped on the armour quickly, save for Grian, who had to thread his wings through the jagged slits on the back, and his horns through the tight holes on the helmet. It certainly wasn't comfortable, and normally he wouldn't bother, but they were going into a hardcore world. Every bit of protection was important.

Stress then began distributing potions. She gave everyone except Grian an invis potion, and then evenly handed out the health and regens, before handing the shulker of the more dangerous potions to Mumbo, who gingerly placed it in his inventory.

"Is everyone ready?" Doc asked. When he was met with nods, he opened the gate into Area 77 and led everyone inside.

They passed the security and all the hangars and stopped at the crowning jewel itself: The Infinity Portal.

"Before you guys embark on this journey, I would like to say a few words of encouragement for your quest." Joe said calmly. "A wise man once said, 'Falling down isn't failing. Failing is staying where you have fallen.' So even if you get hurt, or the outcomes seems bleak, continue to try. If Socrates believed that, then we all should as well."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the group as Doc calibrated the portal. "Okay everybody. Grian will have to walk through first, so that the portal stays calibrated to where he wishes to go."

"Good luck loves! Come back safe!" Stress called out as Grian stepped up to the portal, Scar just behind him.

He took a deep breath, stared straight at the portal, and stepped through.

________________________

Xisuma wondered if he was dead. He couldn't see anything, nor sense in any way. He could move, but he was fully numb. He could see himself, but everything else was just inky blackness.

He tried to call out, but his vocal cords didn't seem to work. Oh, and his helmet was missing, so the illusion of thin air plagued him, though he knew he was breathing fine. 

The only thing that told him he wasn't dead was the fact he could see his communicator messages, though he could never reply.

Sam and T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡ had occasionally sent messages to each other, which Xisuma had been following along with. But a newer message had peaked his interest and filled him with hope.

_Grian has joined the game_

And then a few seconds later:

_GoodTimesWithScar has joined the game_

_Mumbo Jumbo has joined the game_

_ReNDoG has joined the game_

_Falsesymmetry has joined the game_

_GoodTimesWithScar: We're coming for you Xisuma!_

They were coming to rescue him. He was alive.

And he had no clue how this would play out.


	43. Chapter 43

Getting a new Alter Ego is always a strange experience.

But an Alter becoming a player is far stranger, let alone a player's brother.

__________________________

Ex came into existence in a bad mood. He was the personification of negativity, after all. He knew what his purpose was, and he understood what he had to do. Or at least, he thought he did.

So he spent his first day gathering information. He didn't want to do anything crazy yet. He'd pop up every once in a while, just to try out things.

And that's when he got his hands on the dragon egg.

It was a strange item, but a dangerous one. All Ex needed now was to cast lightning on it.

And he succeeded at first.

But then Xisuma came back out and quickly /killed the dragons and hid the egg again.

It made Ex want to destroy the server even more, yet he wasn't sure why.

Perhaps some destruction would calm him down.

__________________________

Ex was confused. He'd had a craving for destruction, for destroying the server, but deep down, he didn't really want to. 

So when Xisuma suggested he take some time alone, for a long time, he happily obliged.

And then with a warm goodbye, Xisuma shut him in the deepest recess of his mind.

He wasn't sure how long he spent alone, but it was nice. Just him and his thoughts, able to sort out his morals.

He spent a few years there, finally coming to his senses. He knew who he was, and it wasn't a true evil. He was Xisuma's troublemaking side, his regrets and yearning for revenge. Him, as an alter, had come to be thanks to Xisuma suppressing that side for so long.

But that didn't mean he was bad. He was just... Xisuma's opposite. Like his siamese twin. Like his brother.

When that realization came to him, something shifted. he felt his code change, as he began to grow into something more than an Alter.

And then the day came when Xisuma brought him out once again.

The Hermits had been wary of him, but he didn't mind. He just wanted to explore.

"Xisuma?" He had asked. "My code is changing. What's happening? I'm not worried, I'm just curious."

Xisuma had answered after a brief pause. "Something similar to the birth of an Alter. Your code is evolving with you self-awareness. You're becoming your own player."

Ex had been so surprised, he jumped back into Xisuma's mind by mistake. 

"My own player?"

"Yeah." Xisuma stood up and dusted himself off. "You should fully change in a couple days."

_______________________

After he had become a player, Xisuma had pretty much adopted him as his twin, since that's pretty much what he was.

The other hermits had warmed up to him a little bit, and he'd stuck around for a good while.

But all good things must come to an end, and Ex wished to explore other servers.

So there they were, just him and his brother, on the console island.

"You ready?" Xisuma asked.

Ex shifted in his boots. "I never will be."

Xisuma let out a laugh and entered the code that would bring the server wall down temporarily. "Now, remember. This could take you to any server, as long as it doesn't have a white-list. So stay safe, okay?"

"Okay." Ex took a deep breath and leapt through, allowing himself to fall down, until he found himself in the lobby. He quickly ran over to the single portal, the one that would take him to a random new server.

_"RuStIc hOuSe!?!?!"_


	44. Chapter 44

To say Grian was nervous would be an understatement. He was terrified.

But as he stepped out of the portal with his eyes closed, he knew that if there was any time to bottle up his feelings, it would be now. Xisuma's safety was the main priority.

Grian's breath hitched as he stepped out of the portal and onto the ground. From his first impression, it felt soft and even, with some give when he stomped his foot.

He heard the whir of the portal behind hi as the rest of the team stepped out.

He heard someone click away at a communicator - probably False trying to message Xisuma - and then a hand settled on his shoulder.

"I think we're here." Mumbo's warm voice spoke. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah, just... I need a moment to prepare myself. I haven't been here in years, and for good reason." Grian answered, taking a few shaky breaths.

Finally, Grian opened his eyes, and _wow did a lot of stuff flood back._

"What is this place?" Ren wondered out loud.

Grian had to take a second to compose himself. "We're in Sam's apartment."

____________________________

Doc watched as the team disappeared through the portal.

"Do... Do you think they'll succeed? That they'll all come back safely?" He asked, hiding the worry in his voice as best as he could.

Joe answered calmly, his accent soothing, in a way. "I don't _think_ they'll succeed. I _hope_ they'll succeed."

Doc's eyes flickered back to the portal. "I stopped hoping a long time ago. I've learned that whatever happens happens, and if you have no control over it, there's no use."

"So? That's not stopping you from wanting them all back safely." Joe inquired, fixing his glasses.

Doc sighed. "You do have a point, I admit. but there's nothing much we can do now than wait."

"You're not much of an optimist, are you?" Joe raised an eyebrow.

"Comes with the territory." Doc grumbled. "Being a redstone engineer, a scientist, a doctor, and on top of that, a manager of a facility that studies alien life and supernatural phenomena, you learn to expect the worst. And not to mention, being half-creeper and half-robot."

Joe pursed his lips. "That's.... a lot of responsibility. You getting enough breaks?"

Doc hesitated. "Well... not really."

"Maybe next season, take some time off between builds. The only real break you've gotten was was the Civil War, and I wouldn't call that a break, per se." Joe suggested.

Doc ran a hand through his hair. "I guess you're right, Mr. Therapist Man. I'll make that a point next season."

Joe chuckled. "Well, we better get going. No point waiting around for their return, rescue missions don't usually take less than five minutes."

"See you around, I guess." Doc said, equipping his elytra.

Joe pulled out a stack of ender pearls and gave Doc a smile. "See you around."

____________________________

"Why would be here?" Ren questioned, looking puzzled. "Why here of all places?"

"It's dropped us near my last spawnpoint here." Grian explained quickly.

Mumbo glanced around. It was a rather small apartment, with a couple beds and a few chests, as well as two doors. One was closed, probably led out to the hall, and the other was half-open, leading to a basement in which Mumbo could make out another bed.

Grian wordlessly opened a couple chests, pulling out a few items, including a wad of cash.

"Why the money?" Scar asked, frowning.

Grian neatly bundled it up. "For bus tickets. Our destination is a while away. Big city, y'know."

"Oh."

After a couple more minutes of searching, Grian headed down into the basement and returned with a first-aid kit, and handed it to Stress. "Here. There's some bandages and medicine inside, in case we run out of healing potions."

Stress peeked inside. "Um, love? This is the kind of first-aid kit professionals have, rather than a standard home kit. Everything okay, hun?"

Grian hesitated. "I have it for reasons I'd rather not discuss. We need to get going anyways."

"Agreed." Mumbo said, nodding towards the closed door. "Lead the way Gri."


	45. Chapter 45

The walk was quiet, Grian saying nothing as they walked through Tokyo.

The silence was almost deafening, the only sounds being their footsteps. The streets were empty and cold, and the buildings were dark, making the city feel like a ghost town. The only sign of life they saw other than themselves was the person who drove the bus they took to another section of the city. Even he looked soulless, being as quiet as Grian.

When the team sat down on the bus, Scar decided to finally break the silence, his voice cutting through it like a knife in pudding.

"I-" He hesitated. "I was wondering... Well.... We need to be ready for anything, so we should probably go over the worst case scenarios and what to do."

It was silent for a couple more seconds, before False spoke. "Whatever the case, I'm going to be fighting. Stress, you'll probably be checking on X, and doing what you can. We don't know what condition he'll be in, so that'll be in your hands."

"I'll probably be fighting as well." Ren said, fixing his ponytail.

Mumbo bit his lip, pausing before asking, "Grian? Are you okay?"

"Oh I don't know, I got our Admin kidnapped and perhaps the whole server doomed! What do you think?!" Grian snapped, the temperature in the bus immediately rising ten degrees. Some black thorns pushed up out of the floor a little bit.

"Gri..."

"I'm sorry Mumby." Grian took a shaky breath. "I just... It's a lot to process. I really wish this was all a bad dream. I don't want you guys to get hurt too."

False put a hand on Grian's shoulder. "Grian."

"Y-yeah?"

"Were we mad when you ran away to find the mansion?"

"No."

"Were we scared when you broke your atrium?"

"Well... No."

"Did Mumbo blame you when you cursed him?"

"..."

"Grian-"

"No."

False gave him a stern look. "Do we blame you for what's happened to Xisuma?"

Grian glanced down at his hands. "No."

"So stop putting yourself down. If you're going to tear yourself up over this, wait until we have Xisuma back safe and sound." False retracted her hand and drew her sword. "Now are we gonna do this or what?"

"We're going to do this." Scar answered, standing up and drawing his sword.

"Agreed." Ran drew his sword as well.

Stress pulled out her invis potion. "We're going to get Xisuma back."

Mumbo gave a nod and glanced back at Grian.

"Well, you guys better drink your invis potions, because we're here." Grian answered, steeling his nerves. "The crash is a short walk from here."

As if on cue, the bus stopped.

The Hermits scrambled to take off their armour and chug the potions. They filed off the bus quickly, heading onto the sidewalk.

It really was a short walk, the bus coming into view in only a couple minutes.

Scar went first, climbing into the vehicle, which had stopped smoking a long time ago. It had some fire damage, the front charred and crumbly. When Scar saw the front seat, he had to turn away for a couple seconds.

"Scar? What is it?" Ren asked.

"There's a lotta blood in the driver's seat." Scar choked out.

Grian had climbed into the bus just after Scar, and was exploring the back. "I found an end portal guys." He called out. "I think we have to go through."

The invisible hermits gathered around, glancing down into the celestial swirls of magic.

"I guess this is it then." Mumbo said. "Do we just... Jump in?"

"Yeah." Grian answered. He seemed to grow even more quiet, but this time with a cold determination. "We'll never be ready, so uh..." 

He took a deep breath, and jumped through.


	46. Chapter 46

"They've arrived."

Xisuma groggily binked open his eyes. Everything felt muffled and blurry, but he could make out some general colors and shapes as he scanned his environment.

First off, he could tell he was in the End.

Second, someone unfamiliar was standing near him.

And third, he was lying in a pool of his own blood. His helmet was cracked, which must've been the cause. Judging by how his head and shoulder felt, he must've been roughly dropped here a couple minutes ago.

Xisuma tried to sit up, but his limbs felt like spaghetti. His vision swam when he even tried to just lift his head.

"Sam?"

"Yes?"

"Be mindful. The entire team's got invisibility on, aside from Grian. If you get hurt too much, step away and I can heal you easily."

"Noted."

_________________________

Stress pulled herself to her feet, reaching out to make sure she didn't bump into anyone.

"We all here?" Scar asked. From where his voice was, he was just in front of her.

Yeses rippled through the group as Grian readied himself. "Alright, this is it." He muttered to nobody.

"Oh it's it indeed." A voice said. Lo and behold, Sam stepped out from behind one of the obsidian pillars. "Why don't we have a little cha-oof!" Sam staggered back, clutching his midsection as his shirt went from white to crimson. After a few seconds he stood up straight, the blood disappearing. "Ha. Nice try, whoever did that."

False scowled. "Nothing's holding me back from- exCUSE ME WHERE'S ME SWORD????" Her voice rose a couple octaves in anger.

"ClearInventory. A handy trick I picked up from my partner." Sam replied with a crooked grin. "Any of you guys try that again and my friend will wipe your stuff as well. Now where was I? Oh, right! Why don't we have a-"

"Just skip the formalities Sam." Grian interrupted. "Where's Xisuma and what do you want?"

Sam chuckled. "Just follow me."

_________________________

Things were slowly coming into focus, becoming sharper and clearer, but Xisuma didn't feel any better, lying on the endstone in the silence.

A couple minutes passed before the person standing near him kneeled down and removed his helmet. "Well. Your 'rescue party' is on the way. I knew taking you was the right choice."

Xisuma tried to move his head to get a better look at the person. They were wearing a cobalt blue cloak that obscured their face, but he could see their hands. Their hands were an orange-bronze color, with a couple red and blue sweatbands on their wrists. 

"Who... Who are you?" Xisuma asked.

The person stood up, still holding his helmet. "It doesn't matter who I am. But catching an Admin, well, that was easy thanks to some help from a certain someone I think you'd know."

Xisuma frowned as the person continued. "This someone gave me a tip, warning me about the protective measures put on an Admin to prevent something like this happening. They then gave a code to use to break that protection so I could actually succeed. And that person-" They laughed "-was an alter-ego of yours. EvilXisuma."

Xisuma was puzzled at first. His brother was no longer an alter-ego, not after he transitioned to a player. And what was more confusing, well...

"Admins have the same level of protection as players..."

"What?"

"Admins don't have extra protection."

"Well, that doesn't change anything." The person said, sounding slightly unsure. "Besides, this all ends now."

______________________

Grian shivered as Sam led him and his team through the End, a couple minutes passing before they arrived.

He bit his lip again as he took in the scene before him. It felt like something ripped out of a nightmare.

_In a dark place, surrounded by void, a small group of people stand. One man surrounded by ghosts, frozen as reality hits him. Another, stands by, his morals twisted and grey. A fourth lies almost unconscious, feeding a river of crimson roses. The river almost reaches the feet of a cloaked one, who seems to loom, the only thing more terrifying than him being the promise of death that lies below their feet. And then the cloaked one speaks, cutting through the thin air easily._

"It's good to see you again, Grian."


	47. Chapter 47

"What do you want?" Grian choked out. "Why are you doing this? Who are you?"

The tall man chuckled. "What do I want? Why am I doing this? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? I want you to have as much pain as you've caused me. I want you to suffer."

"What... What did I do?" Grian began to feel overwhelmed, not understanding how he was at fault, and yet still being put to blame.

"You should know that, shouldn't you? What you caused. Who you killed."

"K-killed?!"

The tall man placed his hands at the edge of his hood, letting a raspy laugh out. "You really don't remember?"

He lifted the hood off.

"It's me, Taurtis!"

________________________

"I'm beginning to doubt my work." The voidling paced in the expansion of darkness.

The mystery boy bit his lip. "It's not like we can do anything at the moment. Either way, your skills are gonna come in clutch. The only thing to doubt will be the hacking with the death message system."

"Yeah yeah, I know. I just hope we'll be able to fix this mess you've made, accidental or not." The voidling sat down with a huff. "What I'm mostly worried about is Xisuma. If by chance he bleeds out before-"

"From my research, one of the members of the rescue team is a skilled healer, so hopefully that won't be probable."

"I know, I'm just worried for him. I..." The voidling sighed. "I miss him."

_____________________________

"But how!? You- you perma'd years ago!" Grian exclaimed, an unsettling feeling dropping in his chest.

Taurtis laughed bitterly. "The old Taurtis perma-died. I on the other hand, did not."

"What do you-"

"Since then, I've bided my time, promising to hurt you, to make you feel what I did."

Grian took a step forward. "Wait! I dont- I don't understand! I-"

"I even got help from our old schoolmate, accessing a hardcore server, making a plan, even planting that crystal in your precious book. Sure, things went wrong, but we adapted, with the sole intent of seeing the look on your face when I take away something important to you!" Taurtis snarled, grabbing Xisuma by the neck and lifting him up.

"Taurtis wait, we can talk about this-"

"Don't try that with me! There is no talking about anything! All that's left is to act, to finish this." Taurtis moved so Xisuma was dangling over the void. "To complete my sole purpose."

And without any further words, Taurtis opened his hand, and dropped Xisuma.

-

Suddenly, Grian could move again. He didn't even think, just acted on instinct and sheer terror. He sprinted the the cliff and leapt off, tucking in his wings in order to fall faster.

"X! Grab my hand!" Grian shouted, his voice almost lost to the wind. Xisuma frantically reached out a hand, straining to grab on. "C'mon X, I've got you!" Grian yelled, his fingers brushing the Admins. And then moments later, their fingers were connected. Grian pulled Xisuma up until they were hugging, and opened up his wings.

Just as he was about to flap upwards, a sharp pain rippled through him. No more than a second later, it happened again. Grian struggled the flap his wings, struggling to make his way up, but the void was too strong.

Grian was just about to give up when he heard rockets. He saw a familiar face rocked down towards him, grabbing Xisuma's other arm and frantically spamming rockets like his life depended on it - which it did.

Then they were finally moving upwards, barely reaching the cliff, which Mumbo managed to weakly grip. Luckily the other Hermits were there, pulling them up.

Grian collapsed on the endstone, coughing. His wings felt sore, and his lungs were burning. But he'd made it.

Right?

_____________________

T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡ glowered, disgusted at the scene before him. All that preparation for nothing. All that time, all that preparation gone to waste. It wasn't worth the work of killing his host so he could take the body for himself.

But this didn't have to go to waste. If he couldn't have Grian's despair, then he'd take the despair of everyone he loved.

Reaching into his inventory, T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡ retrieved his spear and ran forwards, impaling Grian's wing.

Grian shrieked, stumbling backwards in his panic.

Stumbling right off the cliff.

_______________________

"Guys we did it! We actually did it!" Ren sobbed, handling Stress another healing potion. 

The team let out sighs of relief, finally beginning to relax until...

Scar sat up, eyes wide and panicky, and shrieked out a single word.

_"GRIAN!"_


	48. Chapter 48

Ren panicked.

As soon as Scar alerted them, he grabbed his elytra and dove off, trying to catch Grian.

But he could only go so fast with the rockets, and as soon as the Void started tugging on him, he was forced to bail.

_____________________

Grian felt frozen as he plummeted.

His wings were no use, one still sore from rescuing Xisuma, the other with a gaping hole that throbbed mercilessly. He had no elytra or rockets on him, no golden apples, nothing.

But he didn't want to accept his fate. Not yet.

But what could he do? No spell he knew could get him out of this.

He closed his eyes, focusing on the sounds, trying to pinpoint anything. He could hear shouts from his friends above, and some rockets.

Someone had tried to dive down to get him, but they had to abort quickly. Grian was far too gone.

And yet, the fall seemed to last forever. When would the void begin to-

A sharp spike of pain shot up his spine.

Ah. There it was.

Grian wrapped his wings around himself as the void tore through him, taking his health down quickly and silently.

Then, like a light switch, something changed in him.

His eyes snapped open, the Void around him seeming to tense a little. For a moment, he thought he heard someone speak in his head, but it sounded muffled.

A few seconds later, he heard the voice again, clearer.

_"I got you Gri."_

And then he wasn't falling anymore.

He wasn't floating either.

He was lying down, on a cold surface, and two figures were standing above him.

_"Did it work? Did we fool the system?"_

That was the same person who had spoken to him a few seconds ago. They sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite pinpoint who.

The second figure spoke, with a relieved sigh.

_"We did it. Tab's been disabled, gamemode switched with the notification successfully. The Void wasn't very merciful, so I'm going to take some extra precautions. Grian, I'm really sorry about this."_

Grian let out a short gasp as pain coursed through him again.

And then nothing.

___________________________

After Ren scrambled back up onto the endstone island, the Hermits sat there in silence, waiting and wishing that the inevitable wouldn't come.

And after a full minute, hope began to ripple through.

_Perhaps Grian somehow survived?_

Mumbo exchanged a glance with Scar. Was it even possible?

_He must've survi-_

"no." It was barely a whisper, coming from Xisuma as he glanced at his communicator. "no. nonononono. please..."

And then Mumbo's own dinged, despair coursing through him as he opened the message.

-

_Grian fell out of the world_


	49. Chapter 49

"Why. Why him?" Ren croaked, glaring at Taurtis. "What did he do to deserve this?"

Taurtis met his gaze without faltering. "That doesn't concern you. All you must know, is that this isn't the last you'll see of me. My work isn't finished quite yet. You could say... My purpose has changed. And one more thing." He turned away, tossing the last few words over his shoulder. "I wouldn't channel Renbob anymore, if I were you."

_T̓͌͟Ᏼ̟᷁ᚨỤ̥̃̌r̩̄͢tަ͏᷉i̧̥̍s̩ͫ͡ left the world_

_Samgladiator left the world_

___________________________

Six Hermits sit at the edge of a cliff, still in shock of what had just happened.

Scar was the first to break, hugging himself as sobs racked his body.

Mumbo was next, hiding his head in his hands as he wept.

Xisuma was third, saying nothing as silent tears streamed down his face.

False stared into the void in silence, as if she was hoping Grian would zoom out of there with his signature grin.

Ren buried his face in his knees, shaking.

Stress handled it the best, choking back her own tears as she checked Xisuma for injuries. When she finished, she stood up and broke the silence.

"Let's go home."

___________________________

_Joe Hills: The Infinity Portal's on! They're back!_

_Docm77: OMW_

Within minutes, the rest of the Hermits had gathered around the infinity portal as Doc let the rescue party back into the server.

Stress was the first to step out, followed by Xisuma whose face was hidden by his helmet.

It wasn't until Scar stepped out that everyone realized the air of grief around the rescue party. Scar, usually happy-go-lucky Scar, had bloodshot eyes and a depressed expression.

A hush fell over the crowd as almost the rest of the team stepped out.

It was Iskall who broke the silence, asking the question no-one dared to ask.

"Wheres Grian?"

Mumbo broke the news. "He... He Perma-died."

Mumbo quickly explained what was happening, and after a few moments of silence for the Fae, the Hermits began to disband to head back to their bases, dejection rippling across the server like wildfire. Soon, the only Hermits left at the portal were Xisuma, Joe, and Mumbo.

"So this is it, huh?" Mumbo said, resting his head on his knees. "What happens now?"

"We move on to Season 7." Xisuma answered quietly. "Well build a grave for Grian there."

"It's about time anyways." Joe sighed. "With everything that's happened in the last six months, the season change was long overdue."

"When do you want to switch Xisuma?" Mumbo asked.

Xisuma glanced at the infinity portal. "In a few days. I'll make the announcement tomorrow, after everyone has had some time to mourn. The day after will be for wrapping up unfinished projects and whatnot, and we'll switch the next morning."

Another bout of silence settled over the three.

"He was only with us for one season." Mumbo whispered. "And yet he had such an influence. He was a part of almost every major event, not to mention the ones he caused."

"The Grian Head Hunt, Civil War, Build Off in Hermitville, and the whole Area 77 shenanigans." Joe added.

"And his ambitious builds. He always went above and beyond." Xisuma added.

Mumbo smiled a little. "Remember when he'd dress up as Poultry Man and throw eggs at everyone?"

"A little birdy told me he was also the salmon ghost." Joe smiled as well."

Xisuma chuckled. "We can't forget the whole Sahara business."

"Or Sherlock Grian."

"Don't tell me y'all forgot about the Elytra Course."

"There was that one time he 'stole' the stock exchange's diamonds."

The three shared memories of the builder until the sun set over the horizon. It certainly helped dull the pain of the loss, although not taking it away completely. They still had to heal.

And if when Mumbo climbed into bed that night, and he wished he'd wake up to Grian messing with his redstone or doing loop-de-loops in the air, that was okay.


	50. Chapter 50

Mumbo was back in that weird void dream. And that strange boy was once again standing in front of him.

Except this time, Mumbo recognized him.

He looked identical to Taurtis, aside from the fact he was missing the cloak. Also, the guy who'd killed Grian had more scars.

Mumbo felt a lump in his throat at the thought and took a step back.

The man gave him a long measured stare. Something about him was different, he looked far stressed and tired rather than the other Taurtis who had held himself up confidently. But the most jarring difference was his voice.

"Mumbo Jumbo, right?"

His voice was softer and sounded more real than the other Taurtis. Perhaps he was a twin?

When Mumbo didn't say anything, the man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "My plan has worked so far, but at what cost? Due to some complications, everything's delayed. I have to take care of an ill person, luckily my friend knows a lot about void sickness. Until he gets better, all I can do is wait. Wait and worry. Do you know how that feels?"

Mumbo felt a pang of sympathy for the guy, remembering when he'd helped rescue Grian from that mansion, and ended up waiting a few days for Grian to recover. "Yeah. It sucks." He answered.

The man was a bit surprised at Mumbo's answer, and Mumbo took the opportunity to ask, "I didn't quite catch your name last time. It started with a T?"

The boy hesitated. "Taurtis. Well, the old one."

"Old one?"

"It's complicated. A mess I'm trying to fix."

"Oh."

Mumbo paused for a moment. "You look pretty frazzled. You okay?"

Taurtis took a shaky breath. "I'm just anxious, I guess. And paranoid. But there's not much else I can do for now. Exy's began to consider risking a journey to find someone he knew a long time ago, but he has to take care of our sick friend and I'm terrible at server-hopping." He shivered a little. "But being honest, I'm scared. Anything could go wrong, and I could lose everything."

"But you're safe now right?"

Taurtis blinked. "Well, yes."

Mumbo tapped his chin. "If you're safe, you don't need to worry. Nothing's going to happen unless you let it. Perhaps the universe is giving you a good opportunity to rest before you continue."

"Huh. I guess you're right. That's pretty wise."

"I uh... Read it in a book."

"Still pretty wise." Taurtis chuckled a little. "Perhaps you're not just someone I randomly dreamed up."

"Perhaps you're a part of my dream." Mumbo joked. "Or maybe we're both dreaming and dreampt each other up."

"Maybe we're a part of someone else's dream." Taurtis laughed. "Now that would be weird. Though it would make sense since I've never seen you before."

"Same here, I think."

"You think?"

"Yeah, you said you were the old Taurtis? I think I've um, met the 'new' one." Mumbo bit his lip, the mood darkening a little.

Taurtis' face fell. "That's unfortunate."

"Yeah."

It was silent for what felt like an eternity. Both men not knowing what to say. Time dragged on, and eventually Mumbo felt a tug. The other man must've felt it too.

"Oh. I'm waking up." Taurtis commented. And seconds later, Mumbo was alone. 

So there were two Taurtis' and Mumbo had the bad luck of meeting the new one first. Of course.

Mumbo sighed to himself, knowing he'd forget most of the dream once he woke up. And then a thought flitted through his mind, just as he was waking up.

_Wait, Exy? I swear I've heard that name befo-_

And then he woke, the thought disintegrating into nothing as the entire dream faded into a blurry, muffled memory.


	51. Chapter 51

"And the winner of the Mayoral Election is... GoodTimesWithScar!!!!!" Ren announced.

Cheers resonated from the crowd of hermits as Scar ducked his head shyly.

"That was a blast, huh? With the campaign races and all that. Season 7 has really kicked off well." Xisuma commented.

Mumbo watched as Scar dug down a few blocks before towering back up in his mayoral outfit. "Yeah, especially with the Head Games and the button to start everything off."

"Can't forget Tag 2: Electric Boogaloo." Xisuma added. "I'm glad that piece of season 6 carried over, even if Iskall was the one to start it."

"That and the fact it sorta lost it's glory from the Head Games. It was still fun though." Mumbo noted.

The two hung back as the rest of the hermits followed Scar into the Town Hall.

"It's still so quiet, reminds me of season 5. Sure stuff happened, but it's just..." Mumbo trailed off, tip-toeing around the topic.

Xisuma placed a hand on the hermit's shoulder. "I know these past few months have been hard for you. They've been hard for everyone who... who was there."

"It's just so different without him. It's so... so _normal_."

"I'd have to agree with you on that. Last season was probably the most fun season so far."

A comfortable silence swept over the two, as they watched the rest of the players trickle out of the town hall.

"Xisuma?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it weird... Is it strange that I still hold out hope. Hope he's still.. somehow... well it's pretty silly but-"

Xisuma let out a sad chuckle. "It's not silly Mumbo, it's grief. I think all of us still hope, but eventually we just have to accept it."

Mumbo was quiet for a few more seconds before he pulled a shulker out of his inventory. "I finished gathering the final materials."

"Do you want to head over now? I don't have anything on my agenda, and I'd be happy to help."

"Of course, X."

______________________

"I'm still amazed at how this place naturally spawned in. A little garden fully enclosed by cliffs." Xisuma breathed.

"And that's why it's perfect." Mumbo set down the shulker on a rock and opened it. "Not to mention, it's a favorite place for parrots."

Xisuma glanced around the small area. Scar had stumbled across this area when he was looking for a place for his starter base. It was basically a large, cylindrical hole in one of the large hills of the jungle, which had a beautiful garden with bushes, flowers, and trees. It was so reminiscent of Grian's atrium, that everyone had collectively agreed it would be the location of the memorial.

Mumbo had taken on the responsibility of gathering all the materials and building it, bit by bit. He was putting on the finishing touches today.

Xisuma watched as Mumbo placed each block with care. He, of course, wasn't the only one who had worked on the area. Cleo had worked some armour stand magic, Scar had lit up the place with some of his new "wizard crystals" that hung in the air, and Stress had done some flower planting. 

Other Hermits had put their own touches on the garden as well, like Etho, who put his gardening service to a good use and placed a couple beehives in order to keep Stress's flowers healthy and pollinated.

"It's finally finished." Mumbo's voice was quiet as he picked up the now-empty shulker and stepped back to admire his work.

Xisuma smiled. "It just needs one more touch." He pulled up an admin screen and quickly typed in a command before pulling two blocks from his inventory: a few barrier blocks, and an end crystal. He quickly placed them where he wanted, and stepped back to admire the garden with Mumbo.

It was a peaceful clearing, lit up by the crystals. Faint buzzing and chirping could be heard from the trees that lined the area. Foxglove and Bluebells were planted in a circle around the memorial, with a trail of smooth stepping-stones leading up the the base.

The shrine itself was made from obsidian and quartz, contrasting the statue in an eye-catching way. The statue was of Grian sitting cross-legged on a platform, wings spread and with a quiet expression, eyes closed. Around him were smaller statues, each a memento of the events he'd caused last season. A banner for the Civil War, a tag for Tag, a mini dragon for the Build-off, a sword for the Head Hunt, a cactus for Sahara, a chicken for the Poultry-man shenanigans, a beacon for the Area 77 nonsense, and a music disk for all the music he's spread. And above his head, suspended by some admin magic and surrounded by barrier blocks was an end crystal. With the way Grian's arms were positioned, it almost looked as if Grian had cast the crystal as a spell.

"If there's any slim, tiny chance that you survived, I hope you can see this, and see how much we love and miss you." Xisuma whispered quietly.

And if there was any slim, tiny chance Xisuma would hear him, Grian would've told him he did.

_END_


	52. Discord! (and a sequel)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhhhh we have a discord and a sequel

_We have a discord now! Join, introduce yourself, and grab some roles!_

_https://discord.gg/YS8zQhg_

_Don't miss out on sneak peeks and vague hints ;)_

_I will also post questions I have about FoF 2: Electric Boogaloo on there, that you guys can give your opinions on, such as the official name for the sequel, character design, and other stuff._

_You can also post memes, art, and other things in their respective channels, or just hang out!_

_I'll see y'all there!_

_~Luna_


End file.
